Naruto: The Fright Before Halloween
by Kunoichi-Neko
Summary: Naruto's seal is broken by a cranky dragon! Halloween day marks the day Kyuubi will be free, and Konoha shall be attacked once more! Rated M for blood...
1. Chapter 1

Note's Author: Yeah, this was supposed to come out yesterday, but there was a change of plans. Anyway, it's my Halloween thing I'm doing this year. D

ATTENTION: I do NOT own Naruto or anything relating to it. I own my OC, but not Sumikoa and Shenlong. Just a prewarning, there might be more OCs.

...October 1, Konoha Rest House ( two story building with only five rooms used by konoha ninjas for relaxation, meetings, or just for peace in quiet. Hokage room is strictly for Hokage, no questions asked.)...

"Man, how many of these papers are there?!" Neko, a fun-loving, brown-haired, Suna kunoichi with many names, tossed a group of scrolls onto an even bigger pile of important papers, throughoutly demolishing the neat little pile that it once was. Sumikoa, another foreign ninja with black hair, random necklaces everyday, and studying to become a vet for animals, fingered through her stack of papers, counting them one-by-one, paused, then started all over again after losing count due to Neko. Shenlong, another Suna ninja with short blonde hair, better known for his werewolf abilities and egg-spit incidents, sat on the baby blue couch across from the tan couch Sumikoa stayed on, smacking paper stacks down on the table between them in boredom, a whole list of things he could be doing consistently pestering him. Silence befell again, then Shenlong continued to count his papers as well, both his and Sumikoa's jobs being to keep track since Tsunade didn't trust Neko when it came to counting.

After a minute or two, coming back from the Hokage's office with another load of scrolls and papers, Neko piped up again, "I mean, come on! There must be what, a million of these things?!" Neko placed the new scrolls and papers down swiftly on the same pile, the whole thing finally falling to the side. Neko ignored it, her arms stretched wide in her way of handtalk.

"That maybe true, but if we have to keep counting the same damn papers over and over again, we'll never know." Shenlong answered, frowning as he straightened his stack again. The table had rocked when Neko added the new load, thus rocking the floor and the rickety table, which in turn leaned a little too far over.

"Please, you count like my grammy. You'll be fine." Neko waved her hand, all the red, fresh paper cuts on her fingers now quite noticeable, much like those Shenlong and Sumikoa had also.

"..Was that supposed to be an insult?" Shenlong pushed his sunglasses back up his nose from where they had slowly slid down. Sumikoa casted a quick glance up from her counting, her ears blocking her mind so she could not count.

Neko cocked her head with a confused look on her face. "Insult? That was a compliment!" She explained, once again gesturing with her hands.

"How is that a compliment?"

"Grammy was a math genius..a sharp minded one ironically enough.."

"..Still the fact she's your grandma, an elder. How old is she anyway?"

"21.."

"What?!"

"Neko," Sumikoa spoke up, "How is your grandma 21 and you're as old as you are? It doesn't add up."

"She told me she was!" Neko argued, sitting down beside the jumble of scrolls she made. Criss-crossing her legs, she looked from Shenlong to Sumikoa in curiosity.

"Alright then...how old's your mother?" Shenlong asked, more jokingly than serious, adding it to his tone. Neko didn't catch the humor, her mind already lost for the day.

"55."

"...Uh,...Neko? How is your mom older than your grandma, the person who gave birth to her?" Putting down her paper stack gingerly on the table, Sumikoa brushed away a lock of her shoulder-long, black hair from her face. She took off her necklace, a silver chain with a cat in a witch's hat, tossing it in both of her hands as she spoke.

"My Grammy was born in 1921 and my momma in 1955." Said Neko, tapping her feet to a rythm in her head that suddenly popped up. Oompa, oompa, oompadie-do...

"Oh, I see...but I'm asking what their age is, not when they were born."

"I don't know their ages."

"...Please be kidding"  
"..."

"I told you, I'm not good in math!" Another gesture of her arms knocked a scroll from the pile, causing it to fly in the air, unfurl, and land with a thump on the hardwood floor. All three's attention was drawn to it like moths to a light, mothpeople to lightscroll.

"What's it doing?" Neko asked, pointing at it. The scroll, once a calming green was beginning to turn red all of a sudden. Burning sounds came from inside its papery insides, followed by a type of crackling noise.

Curious, Neko reached for it with her cut hand. Her hands gripped it for a split second, before it flew threw the air another time, followed by a scream of pain from Neko. The girl clutched her hand tightly, gritting her fanged teeth in pain and fully regretting even thinking of touching the scroll.

Twirling through the air, the scroll dripped blood, Neko's blood from the floor and her hand. Sumikoa watched it fly towards her, and instinticely, her hands caught it to keep it from hitting her full force. No sooner after she touched it, she too cried out and tossed it aside. A small whisp of smoke seemed to poof from her palm, Shenlong being the only one to notice since Sumikoa had her eyes closed and Neko was too busy grasping her hand so tight her ciculation might have been cut off.

The scroll was now heading for him, but he was prepared. Judging by the reactions of the other two, the bloody scroll was to be considered dangerous.He drew a hidden sword from his back, readying it to slash straight through the scroll. Just when Shenlong was about to slice, the door of the room slammed open.

"Granny-sama!!" Bellowed a blonde, spiky-haired Konoha ninja otherwise known as Naruto. The wiry boy's unexpected outburst distracted Shenlong for a split second, yet long enough for the odd scroll. A dark aura bounced from it onto the sword, knocking it out of his hand quicker than light itself, leaving Shenlong's papercut-hand open. Like magic, the scroll appeared in the man's hand, his blood seeping into it as though dragged. He cursed, dropping the bloody scroll to analyze his hand.

The instant it touched the floor, a bang rang out through the room, causing Neko to jump to her feet involuntarily and the others to meerly flinch. Naruto's eyes widened so large, his pupils seemed like tiny dots. Everybody moved slightly away, eyeing the glowing scroll like hawks.

A black smoke seeped from the scroll, billowing into a mass of clouds inside the small room. All eyes locked onto it, staring. Slowly, but surely, the cloud began to take shape. It formed first into a red face and fanged mouth, then poofed out into the face of a European dragon ( N/A: basically a regular dragon seen in knight stories and such.Just in case anybody was curious...)

"Who dare awaken me?" It mumbled. Its voice was surprisingly deep, deep enough to rumble the earth if it touched it, maybe even shake the entire world. Neko opened her mouth first, much to her friends' dismay.

"Woah, a smoke dragon! Genjutsu!!" Neko squeeled, sharply peircing all ears except her own. Realizing her mistake at the dragon's angered expression, her hands clapped over her mouth and her eyes grew big.

"Silence, human! I shall ask again: WHO DARE AWAKEN ME?!" The dragon boomed, shaking the room unsurprisingly. Neko's ears shifted up higher on her head, as they did whenever she was in shock or fright, a feature that made her more animalistic. She whimpered and crawled behind a chair, cautiously peering out from behind it.

Sumikoa, scooting hesitantly to the other side of her couch from the dragon's range, quietly memorized the scroll symbols upon which the dragon floated. This..., she thought to herself, this is a seal! Specified for a being of great power! This dragon,...its power is equal to the Kyuubi!

Getting no answer from nobody, the dragon did not seem satisfied. "You ungrateful humans! I help make this world that you call your's rotate, and you won't even speak when I ask for it! Such disrespect!" The dragon growled, sending a gust of wind that kncoked everything, even the ninjas, out of place. Papers fluttered in a mini-tornado, Sumikoa's necklace shot from out of her other palm where she had it, Shenlong's sword clattered against the wall, Naruto's headband whirred off to join the mess, and Neko scrambled out of the way of the toppling chair she was so quietly sheltered by for a short time.

"Halloween," The fearsome dragon roared, seeing the calender on the back wall with the day for Halloween circled and decorated, "I shall release the demon from this boy-"From out of nowhere, Naruto appeared floating beside the masive dragon's head, his hair whirling in his face so hard he could no longer see. Once again, his eyes were huge round disks. "-upon all you pathetic creatures! The demon will have full control, and even though it only for a day, it shall be long enough!"

Naruto thudded to the floor, the smoke cloud swirling around him. His cry of pain became audible, seeing as the cloud had struck him straight in the stomach. A streak of blood dribbled from his mouth, while his body struggled to overcome the blow. It failed, leaving Naruto falling to the ground, passed out completely.

"Naruto!" Sumikoa called from her postion on the couch, quietly thanking the lord it did not topple like the other chair. Steathily, she leaped down beside the boy, checking his heat rate while he was unconscious. She rolled his body over so he could breath easier, a thousand thoughts coursing through her head.

"He's alright, just unconscious and hurt." Sumikoa reported. Shenlong steadied himselfback on the couch, somehow keeping his sunglasses on the whole time through. Neko crawled out from her hiding place, one that no one saw or cared to see, unharmed like the other two jonins.

"I think that dragon has issues." She mumbled, recalling over the fact of how quickly the dragon had been angered by her simple squeel. She coughed, moving over by the table to collapse against it.

"You think?" Shenlong grumbled, glancing at a sheet of paper resting on his hand. He flicked it off seeing no interest in an adoption paper.

"Uh, guys,..." Sumikoa whispered to the Suna ninjas. Neko suddenly sneezed, knocking her head on the table. She laughed and clutched her head, then silenced herself out of respect, turning towards Sumikoa.

"What?" Neko asked curiously, starting to feel the aftermath of the knot on her head.

"Naruto...his seal..." Sumikoa mumbled, a worried look clouding her eyes. Her hand lightly gripped her mouth, still not glancing away from Naruto for even a second.

"Yeah?" Came Shenlong's voice all the way across the room while he held his sword. It had lond scratches across it, embedded so far within, it would be impossible to even try to fix it.

"...It's been shattered"  
Note's Author: This baka will more than likely come back and attack this chapter ferociously, armed with cheese and cookies...tomorrow? nah, a little while longer. P It shall be rewritten, though. I just need a basic start to get it moving.  
So, tell me what ya think (yes, the chapters will be longer than this, I promise)  
Sayo! P 


	2. Chapter 2

Note's Author: ...uhm,..I don't own Naruto, nor the OCs, Shenlong and Sumikoa, but I own Neko and any other oc that I haven't told you weren't mine. (don't even know if that sentence is correct. P)  
Oh, forgot to mention, MANGA SPOILERS. 

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Neko stared, wide-eyed, at Sumikoa in amazement. "His seal's broken?! How can that happen?!" She cried, turning her gaze onto the unconcious boy lying on the floor. The whiskers darkened by the second on his face, the sign of Kyuubi, the nine- tailed horror of Konoha.

"Apparently by a small dragon with equal or more power." Sumikoa answered, her hand brushing her hair behind her ears.

"..That dragon had power like Kyuu?" Cocking her head to the side, the Suna kunoichi drifted away in thought. It lasted a few seconds, then she snapped back to reality, searching around for something.

"The scroll disappeared awhile ago." Shenlong announced, getting a sharp glare from Neko, whom continued to search around, ignoring Shenlong. She crawled around on all fours, running into the coffee table yet again, then around the couch. Finally, after scavenging around through the mess of papers and warring with Shenlong and his boot, she emerged from a moutain of documents near the door.

"Hn, it's nowhere." Neko declared, defeated. She propped her head up with her hand, frowning sadly as she stared at the floor.

"Idiot, I just said that." Frowned Shenlong, resting his head against his hands.

"Wonder what happened to it..." Sumikoa muttered, a chakra puddle waving around her hands while she held them just above Naruto's stomach. He had a minor cut a little ways across his bellybutton (N/A: call it whatever you want because I'm not sure if that's right.XD) from the smoke dragon.

"Must've left with the dragon." Shenlong answered, stting up with sword in hand. He ran one finger over the scrathes left behind on it, unsure whether to be impressed or to be pissed.

"So, guess we gotta fix the seal then, eh?" Neko said as she struggled to free herself from her imprisonment. She got halfway free, then gravity kicked in, and Neko slid the rest of the way down until she hit the baby blue couch. Alas, anoter knot formed on her head, and a headache in her head. Stumbling uncontrollably, Neko somehow found her way to the other recliner in the room, one that had not been affected by the sudden air blasts, and fell back into the soft cusions.

"No, we're just gonna let the Kyuubi roam around and kill everybody in Konoha." Suna's werewolf answered, propping his boots up on the table.

"ANYWAY," Neko said in a voice higher than his, "How will we do it? I mean, the seal requires a sacrifice, doesn't it? If its shattered beyond repair than we'll have to do the whole darned ceremony and crap."

Everyone went silent. The ninjas were all lost in their own thought, save for poor Naruto, may the thoughts be, who will die, what next, or if I colored these marks red, would it look better?

Sumikoa spoke up first. "Maybe it's not shattered all the way. Maybe we won't have to do a ceremony and such."

Shenlong nodded. "That would easily explain why Naruto hasn't gone completey mad on us just yet. Unless I was hearing things, the dragon said the fox would be free on Halloween. "

"I think I heard that, too. But I still think we should hurry. There's no telling how much longer this seal can hold up. The dragon may have accidently opened it too much."

"He said 'demon', if I'm correct, so I take that he wasn't aware it was a demon of his same power."

"Yeah, which may equal bad for us and all of Konoha."

"What if it didn't? Dragons are generally smart creatures, so what if he knew what he was doing?" Neko said, rubbing her head.

"That could be a good possibility, but the fox will still be free on Halloween no matter what."

"But here's a bigger question for ya: How will we do it?"

"...I don't know, Nek. I don't know. Maybe, if we're lucky, we'll strike gold and find it."

"Hey, Yamato can seal back the Kyuubi! He was made by Orochi for that, kinda."

"But can he fix the seal? No, he will not do." Came Shenlong's voice.

"Don't be so negative, Shen. I bet he'll at least be able to help." Neko argued

"I'm not being negative, I'm speaking the truth."

"Ehhh, then what do we do?"

"No answer there."

"Well, what if we put all our chakra together, we should at least be able to mend it partially. Then, if we keep it up and hope that it doesn't break, it should eventually heal up." Sumikoa suggested, shrugging.

"Hn, it's worth a shot!" Neko cheered, pumping her hand in the air.

"Yeah."

In sync, all the ninjas gathered around Naruto, one nauseous ninja stumbling over instead. Steadily, they all placed their hands, outstrected, directly over Naruto's seal. The next moment, a circle of chakra in the colors of Red, Blue, and Green, created a complete ring around the Kyuubi's seal. If one were to look closely at the seal, if not blinded by the bright chakras, they would see the marks on the boy's belly separated by mere centimeters.

"It's working! Just a little more! Don't lose focus or it'll break back open!" Sumikoa shouted over the hum of the chakra increasing with the power level of the seal.

"I wasn't planning on it!" Shenlong shouted back,jacket billowing back and resembling a cape.

"Yes! Now we won't have to-" Neko cried before,

"NEKO AMIGURUMI!!" Came a shrill and very angry voice from the first floor. Just like that, the whole ring was gone, leaving an air of disappointment in its wake. The seal returned back to its old form, nothing different about it.

"-worry." Neko concluded, eyes slowly turning towards the door.

"There is only one person in all of Konoha who would dare call me Amigurumi."

"Amigurumi?" Shenlong raised an eyebrow at his student, causing his sunglasses to tilt slightly.

"It's a type of doll in Japan. Neko Amigurumi. She calls me that because I have a head full of knots."

"Can't disagree there." Shenlong mumbled, crossing his arms and leaning back.

"Wha-"

WHAM! The wooden door leading to the creaky stairs of the first floor suddenly swung open, smashing into the wall. But why wouldn't it? Anybody would want to getaway from the pink-haired, pissed off kunoichi in the doorway. The smoke was almost phsyically steaming out of her peirced ears.

"Ino? What happened?!" Neko stared at the girl in shock, whether she was using the shocked expression to block herself from laughing at the girl, which she knew would be the last thing she ever did. Ino, the prettiest blond in Konoha when Temari wasn't around, seemed blond no more, especially since her hair was now dyed a hot pink that would give people a headache since she wore only purple clothes most of the time.

"Don't you dare look at me that way, Amigurumi! You know damn good and well what happened!" Ino snapped, pointing at the girl accusingly.

Neko's jaw dropped, something she never did due to the fact her teeth were turning to fangs and momentarily screwing with the others. "What are you talking about? I don't know what happened!" Neko cried in disbelief.

"Lier, I know it was you who switched my shampoo with this god awful dye When I wasn't home!" Ino shouted, infuriated.

"Ino, I don't even know where you live."

"Don't try to pull that on me! I know you! You and that werewolf have the noses of bloodhounds!"

"Actually, mine is more of a less sharper dog's since I'm still-"

"But your still a tracker! You could easily catch my scent, find my house, switch my shampoo, then run off before anyone sees you!"

"But I didn't! I have been training all this week! I had no time to do that!"

"Aha! How do you know it was this week, huh?!"

"...I saw you yesterday.."

"And I saw you too yesterday and you said, quote, 'I've been training all day, my nose is sore and won't even move anymore, and I still didn't get past the tree again. All I need is a good prank to cool down.'" Ino replayed, mocking Neko's voice when it came to the quote.

"Okay, one, don't ever mock my voice again, I do not sound like that, and that's just freaky. Two, if I told you I was going to do a prank, wouldn't you think it was gonna be on someone other than you? What's the point of pulling a prank and the person knows it was you? No fun there. Oh, and I also said I couldn't use my nose that day, too, which you just said."

"And see, you're trying to make it look like you didn't do it because, like you just said, it's no fun when the victim knows. Explain that. AND you just said 'that day'. I clearly remember you once saying your nose just needs a night's rest before you can easily track someone! " Ino growled, cracking her knuckles loudly. Neko gulped, suddenly recalling her training with Sakura, the strongest kunoichi in Konoha next to Tsunade.

"But, I-I-Ino-kun, I didn't do it!" Neko stammered, fumbling backwards, watching the angered kunoichi in slight fear.

Ino's eyes became searing flames, steam now pouring out of her ears literally. "Kun?!" She yelled, sending another shock wave through Neko, who just realized she had refered to Ino as a boy, or worse yet, a low-classed girl.

"Ah,..I meant, Ino-chan!! I'm sorry! I meant Ino-chan!! Chan!" Neko yelled back, crawling past Shenlong. The jonin was observing the war with interest, waiting for the fight scene that would soon come. Sumikoa, watching just as quietly as Shenlong, continuously shifted her attention from Neko to Ino to Naruto, unsure which one were in the worst predicament at the moment.

"KUN?!"

"CHAN!! I meant chan!! Gah!" Neko leaped up as Ino suddenly shot a punch at her, missing her thanks to Neko's speed. Neko hid behind the chair Shenlong leaned against, covering her head protectivly. Ino instantly went for the chair, aiming a punch for the whole of it. Just as fist almost touched covered wood, she found it blocked somehow.

"Not the chair." Shenlong muttered, hand outstretched to block Ino's blow. The girl ignored him completely, his hand as a prop and jumping over the top of the chair. Neko cried out as Ino's foot nearly collided with her head, choosing to bound back over the other side again. Forgetting Shenlong was there, she desperatly tried to avoid hitting him, ending up slamming into the table full force. It broke as though made of paper, right down the middle. Neko fell right in the middle of it, blood flying into the air from where her face and skin were cut deeply. After a moment of astonishment, Neko lifted her hand to where her face was slashed on her cheek. Shakily, her finger ran down the blood line, becoming bloodly as well. Her eyes narrowed until it seemed she could not see, anger passing over her face as her mind saw the past again.

Like lightening, Neko was up before anyone had known it. Gritting her teeth, she shot over Shenlong again, almost hitting his head if he hadn't ducked. Catlike, Neko spun on her hands when she touched the ground, flipping onto her feet easily. Ino paused in quiet confusion, never seeing Neko this angry before. She was forced to move when Neko came from nowhere with a punch directed for her head. Missing, Neko's fist smashed through the wall, getting stuck unfortunatly.

Snarling, Neko tugged on her hand, earning deep cuts in her palm and wrist. Ino seized her chance, throwing a kick at the disabled kunoichi. Neko blocked it with her free hand, knocking Ino back a few steps. Thinking fast, both Ino's fists went for Neko at the same time. Neko blocked one, and doged the other, before realizing the trick as the her face felt knuckles against it painfully. Neko immediately kicked out, just as the pain in her cheek was getting unbearable, managed to make contact with Ino's stomach, then let out a powerful chakra from her feet. Ino flew to the other side of the room, ramming the wall from the force of the kick.

Blood dripping from her mouth, Neko smashed her hand the rest of the way in, then tore it out of the wall, taking a good porportion of the wood inside with it. Glaring, Neko wiped the blood from her lip, teeth gritted and red. Ino looked up, clutching her stomach, but still able to stand up and fight. Furious, Neko pointed her finger at Ino, her brow furrowed until they practically touched.

"Don't...Don't ever do that AGAIN!" Neko yelled, spitting blood on the floor unintentionally.

Ino stood up defensively, returning the Suna kunoichi's hard glare. "Don't you ever do THIS again." She retored, pointing at her pink hair.

"I did nothing to you! All you're worried about is some stupid hairdye that will come out sooner or later while Naruto-" Neko glanced at the boy before carrying on,"- while Naruto's seal is-" Suddenly, Neko froze, moving by not even an inch. Her breathing stopped for a second, then she breathed, eyes like saucers and vacant.

"Neko?" Sumikoa said from by the couch, tending to a wound on her arm, courtesy of the broken table.

Neko didn't respond. Slowly, she fell to her knees, gripping her neck and staring at nothing. She coughed, sending more of her blood to the floor, which now looked like someone had been murdered on the spot.

"Hey, what happened, Nek?"

Neko shook her head, pointing at her throat then her mouth. "...voice...it..g-...gone.." Neko whispered hoarsely, her eyes drooping too low for her to see. She leaned down on the floor, sprawling out like a dog. After a minute or two, she was unconscious like Naruto.

"..What the hell?" Ino said looking around, just now seeing the pigsty the room had become."What..What happened here"

Note's Author: Meeeeeh, finally finished! There's my two for this week...gah, mendoske...welp, hope you liked, lol. Anyway, have a good weekend, day, hour, minute, second, WHATEVER! P


	3. Chapter 3 Shen

Note's Author: Special Thanks to the highly skilled, Shenlong7, for this chapter! D Thank you Shenlong!

Note: Neither of us own Naruto, but he owns his OC, and I own mine, and Sumikoa owns hers.

Enjoy!

* * *

Shenlong leaned against the dull walls of the infirmary, where his student was resting from the aftereffects of the odd curse-like condition of being unable to tell Ino what had happened to Naruto and the damage she had incurred from her furious fight with Ino. He was worried about his student, but he wouldn't let it ever show for fear of making her grow dependent on something, a sign of weakness that Shenlong detested more than anything else.

In truth, he was dependent upon his keeper, Yuki, who never ceased to badger him about his habits in missions and his seemingly unquenchable blood lust that made a lot of people doubt his sanity. When she woke up he would be happy that she was alive, but instead of showing it he would commence to chewing her out for not getting a clear victory against Ino instead of coming close to tying and he would also be cruel for the fact that she had gotten Sumikoa hurt by breaking that table up. It would be Gaara coming down on his head for it was a fact that Gaara had feelings for Sumikoa, how far said feelings went, however, was a mystery.

"Hey Shenlong,"² said Sumikoa as she glanced out the window into to the raining night, pointing at something outside the window. "Isn't that Neko's sister Vapor?"

"What?!"² asked Shenlong as he nearly choked on his coffee at the sight of his student's sister. "Damn, and I was slipping into a good mood, but now she's going to come in, shout me out, blame me, call me the spawn of some semi-satanic deity and really, I'm just going to slap her as I soon get a headache."

"Don't you think that's a bit much?"² Ino asked, who had helped them get Neko admitted to the hospital. "I mean, you don't know what she's going to do."²

"She hates my guts."² replied Shenlong as he took another sip of his coffee, throwing the empty cup away and taking out one of the imported cigars he smoked. It was an unhealthy habit and he knew it, he just did it because his blood negated any of the harmful chemicals in the cigar and it helped shut up his more animalistic side.

"Why does she hate your guts?"² asked Ino as she cocked her brow at him.

"It all started the day I took Neko as my student,"² replied Shenlong. Sumikoa rolled her eyes, leaving momentarily for more coffee and perhaps something edible that didn't reak of spit or some other weird chemical.

**FLASHBACK BEGINS**

"Shenlong, could you stop listening to Master of Puppets while you're on a mission?"² asked Sumikoa on the other side of the com-link. "If the enemy spots you, then others might get into trouble, especially since the target has asylum by the Hidden Mist ninja. If you mess up, I'll have to tell Yuki about your habits that you're supposed to quit"

"They already know I'm coming from the sloppy job of making an opening from the earlier unit," retorted Shenlong as he walked further. He wore a black vest with a red scarf, black pants, black combat boots and topped It all off with a pair of shades. "Besides, that's cruel to involve my keeper in all of this like I'm some type of dog. It's vey degrading you know."

"That is not the issue at hand,"² said Sumikoa. "You are sent here to kill the target while maintaining few casualties of civilians. For this mission, we except no mistakes and everything must be calculated to be reported to Yuki" Yuki was a talented kunoichi from Suna, who was given the title of 'Shenlong's' keeper.

"Good luck, Shenlong." Sumikoa muttered, stopping where she was and to work with the Mist's Gate system on her laptop.

"It's nights like these, when the moon is full, that my blood works at its strongest capacity," said Senlong to himself as he mused about the full moon and his powers. "I believe this is a sign that I might have to shed some blood willingly to pass on the gift that keeps on giving. But it is the perfect night to do that sort of thing and the perfect night to let it all out"

Neko sat there as her sister, Vapor, started playing with the little doll that Neko had stolen for her from the toy shop when the owner wasn't looking and she looked around as all the dangerous looking goons walked around the village. Even thought she and her sister weren't accepted as ninjas, they had learned all they could from any ninja who would take the time to even teach them out of pity in their hearts.

The Hidden Mist village was unforgiving and harsh on any orphans that happened to wander around its cold, merciless alleys, looking for a place to call home. The sisters had used their skills and their street smarts to survive for as long as they had been on their own, which was at the age of six when they ran away from the orphanage that was slowly making them into killing machines.

To Neko, childish pranks were just a way to escape the problems that she was facing now, laughing at the fact that someone felt bad or ashamed, not as nearly as much as she felt, but they were still feeling those emotions. Vapor on the other hand, did those pranks out of anger and because she wanted to help her sister, the sister that she had secretly drawn strength from when times seemed rough for them both.

Vapor could see the stars in Neko's eyes as she lit up at the perfect target for one of her childish pranks and she sighed as she knew that trying to convince her sister to diverge from the path that she was surely going to take was hopeless. She sighed as she saw her sister, Neko, going to the other side of the carriage in which the important man that all these goons were protecting was being held.

Reaching into her pocket, Neko pulled out a handful of black spikes and thumbtacks, throwing them right in front of the carriage holders' bare feet, causing them to drop the carriage as they yelped in pain. Vapor gave a light smile as she saw how much her sister was laughing as she ran away from the carriage, but the smile turned to a look of fright as she saw the goon that was standing in front of Neko's path. He was very tall, like a giant, and he was like a mountain of muscles, the very image of a walking steroid. His black hair was slicked back with grease as if he were some sort of low down gangster, but he wore the outfit of a Mist ninja, meaning he was more than just some thug.

Neko didn't even know the dangerous man was there till he grabbed her and held her up to him. She kicked and screamed at the man to let her go, but he wouldn't release his snake like grip that was slowly crushing her arms. "Shut up or I'll kill you,"² said the man coldly as he nearly broke her neck with the sheer force of him shaking her body. "Listen to me, little girl, the only reason I didn't kill you for causing Dat's fall is because we need a hostage to keep the Suna assassins from reaching us. If you fight back or resist me, we will not only kill you, but we will also kill your sister who I see is standing at the corner."²

Vapor screamed as a kunai was thrown her direction. Ducking behind the wall, she peeked out cautiously, watching carefully as the man continued to tortue Neko. Her heart roared in anger, growling for her to run out and beat the man with the fury she never let out before. That's when she got her sister's eye, a glance that begged for her to get help, not fight. At first, Vapor refused, unwilling to leave her sister like that. But as tears poured down her sister's face, Vapor knew it was now or never.

Getting up, Vapor tore down the streets, her quickness earning amazed looks from the villagers. Soon, she found herself near the Mist Village's opening, a Suna assassin she recognized from posters as "Shenlong" already coming in through the opened gates.

The little orphan girl told Shenlong where his target was after begging him with teary eyes to save her sister who had been taken as a hostage so he wouldn't come any closer. It was the biggest mistake they could have made, for with that act, they had called upon the dreaded wrath of one of the most feared assassins to ever come out of Suna and that had taken away any chance of them even getting a swift painless death.

Death walked the streets of the small outpost in the shadows of the Mist, his boots making intentional clinks as they came into contact with the pieces of metal in the road. This death, as named Shenlong, and this death was released in its full blood splattered glory as soon as he kicked down the door, shedding the full moon light on his prey and the frightened little girl who was in his arms. Shenlong knew that there were others in the room and yet he still walked in there with a casual stride of complete dominance that pissed his prey off to no end.

"Who the hell are you?!"² asked the prey in outrage at the fact that someone was causally walking into his stomping ground like he owned the place, like he as in challenging the prey's control. The prey wasn't as physically strong as everyone around him, seemingly frail and had a very bad flat top hair cut that looked altogether horrendous.

"I must say, after everything I heard I got this grand idea that you were actually something to plan all those rebellions in Suna."² said Shenlong as he walked on, his dark sunglasses hiding the eyes of the cold blooded that killer that resided behind them, just waiting to be released. He was going to release it, but first he had to go with his own style and that involvedberating his enemy right in front of his face. "Now that I look at you I see how wrong I was in my assessment of your character and you're competence. You are just a punk who uses other, lower creatures with the intelligence of retards, to do the dirty work that you lack the balls to do yourself.You're an incompetent with all the style and grace of pig headed, egomaniacal, simplistic cockroach that represents an infestation that must be crushed."

"Just kill him."² ordered the prey as he motioned for the henchmen from the Mist to fling a hail of shuriken and kunai at the cocky suna assassin, who was being slowly torn to pieces under the fire. His blood flowing all over the floor as he felt his arm fall from the elbow and onto the floor, bits of his jaw coming off as it clattered to the floor, and yet he remained standing as all of this happened until the prey snapped his fingers, signaling for his henchmen to stop.

"It seems you were all talk and no walk." The man bragged, snottily. A creepy smile stretched across his thin face, a skeleton walking.

To the prey's utmost surprise, Shenlong actually started laughing and the his blood started flowing in the opposite direction as his eyes glowed bright red, which were left exposed due to the loss of his shades. The body parts that had fallen off, the bits of shoulder, the bits of jaw, and the forearm, all started reattaching to his body. His eyes bore every semblance of the eyes of a wolf, except the yellow ring was more of a red ring. Shenlong stuck out his tongue, which seemed to be very long and much like a wolves tongue, and it only made him look more like a crazed monster with wild wolf eyes.

"Oh my god." cried the prey as he stared in shock at the regenerating Shenlong.

"Years of demented experiments have given me some interesting abilities."² said Shenlong as he began to grow hairier than before and his entire body seemed to change into a wolf like shape, but it still stood on two legs. There he was, now a werewolf, looking like some kind of monster from some childhood horror story, but the little orphan girl wasn't afraid of him. His voice was still the same, but it sounded more animalistic than a human's voice. "You're going to need a lot more than that if you want to kill me."

He then leapt across the room, slaughtering all the henchmen that were inside of the building. The prey watched in horror as all the men he had bought were being killed, torn limb from limb, and all he could do was stand there clutching the girl in front of him so that he would get killed. It was over in a matter of minutes as the last of the henchmen met his end. Shenlong, deciding that using his unleashed form would only cause problems, transformed back into his human form. He pulled out a sword from one of the hands of the dead henchmen and pointed it straight at his prey, who was too stunned to say anything or even move.

"Orphan girl, I am about to pierce through one of you lungs to stab through his heart."² said Shenlong bluntly. "I know you don't want to die, so I am offering you my blood and with it my abilities to regenerate. You get all my abilities including the one you just witnessed and I can't say that you will find this change easy, but I will train you in everything, provided you would accompany me to Suna. So now I must know, will you come with me or die? The choice is yours"

Neko shuddered, contemplating quietly to herself, adverting her eyes away from his. When she looked back up, her eyes showed full courage and determination. "I choose to go with you."² said the little girl as she stared at the suna assassin who was covered in the blood of his enemies.

"This is the part where you're supposed to close your eyes," said Shenlong as he performed his signature assassin's thrust that pierced through both bodies, but neither felt pain. He then cut his hand, letting the blood flow from his open wound, and put it to the girl's mouth. She fought back a cough as the blood ran down her throat, an odd feeling she had never felt before.

"Remember, the choice was always yours to make."

Vapor saw the man from Suna take Neko, unconscious, with him wrapped in a blanket and she noticed that Neko's eyes were different that before, they had changed along with other things about her appearance. The people of the town were too scared to chase after him, so Vapor ran to go after him by herself. Vapor was angry at the man whom she had asked to save her sister, only to find that he had changed her somehow, so that she was just like a monster. She cursed at him as he went over the horizon, letting her rage tear into a solid block a cold metal that remained by anything that she could throw. He was just walking away casually with her sister in his arms as he started singing some song that she could only guess was metal.

"I did as requested,"² called Shenlong over his shoulder as he turned to stare at her with his cold, red wolf eyes and he could see the hate in her eyes. "You're sister is alive, just I promised she would, but I need to take her away before your village gets a hold of her and puts her through experiments. I don't pretend that you would understand, but those are my reasons and unless you wish to kill me, I will take Neko for now"

"I hate you, you bastard!" shouted the little girl, but the man just kept on walking. "I asked you to give me my sister back and you just take her away, leaving me by myself. I swear to you this, you monster, that I will see you dead!"

**FLASHBACK ENDS**

The door opened and a girl with long blue hair and purple highlights walked into the room with a Pomeranian with a tag around its neck that said "Gin Gin".She wore a blue vest with a fishnet under shirt, with blue sandals that had a wave on each one, camo capris, much like her sister, and had three bangs on either side of her head. She walked over to the side of the bed and looked at her sleeping sister with some hint of concern before looking over at Shenlong with a hint of disgust. Shenlong just lit his cigar and stared at her with a smile that dared her to try to take the bounty on his head. He bore her no animosity; it was just his natural reaction to every Mist ninja he met. He always loved to tease them since they had put a bounty on his head.

"So I see you're still alive, jerk,"² said Vapor calmly, her entire body not giving off the waves of hate that she felt towards him like normal."You're still disappointing me by not dying you know."²

"Sorry, but I don't do requests unless they are from some beautiful lady,"² replied Shenlong as he put his feet on the table that he had pulled in front of him. Vapor flinched at the comment, not enough to be noticable, then glared, slowly loosing her calm attitude.

"Besides, if I die, who is going to teach your sister how to control that blood in her and make sure that she doesn't get captured by the Mist and used in experiments"

"The Mist would never do such a thing and we could surely find some way to make up for you not being there to train her." replied Vapor coldly as she stared at Shenlong with her hand resting near her kunai pouch, just waiting to pull one out and throw it at him, but it wouldn't kill him. She had once stabbed him in the heart when she was sent on a mission to take Neko back to the Mist.

"You are the one who has kidnapped her from the Mist and as such, you are an enemy of the Mist who will one day be executed as such"

"I command a wolf clan, little girl,"² replied Shenlong as he stared at her with amusement on his face. His dark sunglasses kept her from seeing his eyes. "If I were executed, the Mist would lose half of its forces, greatly weakening its already weak military power. Let's face it, if you coulda, you woulda."

Vapor was about to say something else, but she felt her sister's hand on her arm and she turned to see her sister's eyes opening slowly to the world round her. Vapor would deal with him later, hopefully with a kunai, but she wasn't counting on it. Now she would have to get information on what happened to her sister and try to coax her back to the Mist. It was why she was sent to Konoha, besides delivering a message to Temari about rogue suna ninjas in Mist territory. Though Vapor wouldn't tell anyone that, she would just tell her superiors that she went there to learn all she could about Neko's state and Shenlong's personal defenses. Vapor still wanted to see the sister she had been separated from when they were just little orphans trying to survive in the heart of a cold desolate village.

"I have changed...in many ways, too many to count, but please tell me my memory is not among them and that this is really my sister." Neko whispered, her eyes twinkling like diamonds as they filled with tears. Her smile was pure, yet somewhat difficult because of the tube in her mouth numbing the searing pain in her swelled cheek.

Vapor stared at her, overwhelmed by sadness and joy. Her head began to shake, a smile curving on her lips. She flew both arms around Neko, despite the fact she was still in the bed in a sitting position. Neko did the same, squeezing her as hard as she could, almost like she would never let go.

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Note's Author: NYAHA! That's my first chapter for this week! Yush! Finally got one early! Anyway, new chapter will come sometime this week, so...dang, lost my train of thought...uh, Sayo! 


	4. Chapter 4 Neko

Author's Note: Me go...lolz, we still no own Narito or ani otha animay, but we owna our OCs. Shenlong ownsa Shenlong, o course. Me own Neko an a Vapor. Sumikoa ownsa Sumikoa, anda Sumikoa OC ownsa Gaara, lulz.  
Yush, dis is a collaboration between a me and a Shenlongs. (roughly translated: everything I've already said a gazillion times)

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Vapor felt the soft, tiny tears from her sister gently glide down her back, or rather, she could sense them gliding down her back. Had it really been this short of a time? Seven years? From the loneliness and pain, Vapor would've figured it was eternity. How many times she tried to see her sister, something her superiors didn't allow unless she was on a mission to retrieve Neko, as always. Even then, however, she never had the slightest glimpse of her, nonetheless news. If it hadn't been for her gut feeling telling her a short "detour" wouldn't hurt, Vapor never would've known of her sister's predicament.

Hugging her tighter, Vapor fought against the tears, her pride refusing to let her. To hell with the crap about not letting your feelings out hurts you in the long run; Nothing could get worser for Vapor now. With a glance at her bare left palm, Vaor released her hold on Neko, whom was starting to gain her strength back and Vapor didn't want to accidently hit a chakra point and throw it all out of balance. It happened too often.

Taking a step back, Vapor stuck her hands in her pockets, rumaging through the junk in them. From one, she produced a little blue ribbon, soft and silky.

"Heyy," Neko said, sparkling eyes fixed upon Vapor's ribbon, "Can I see that, please?" She asked, holding out a hand towards it. Vapor paused, laughing. Yep, definitely Neko.

"Here, sis." Vapor dropped the ribbon onto her sister's hand, swiftly replacing her left hand in her pocket again. Gin whined softly, eyeing her master with what seemed worry in her doggy eyes.

"Well, you guys are really interesting as with how much y'all have to talk about." Shenlong said as he stood up and stretched. "I'm off to...find some coffee..." He passed by them both, headed only for the door.

"Sensei," Neko called after him, making Vapor twitch in annoyance. "Yuki'll get mad if you smoke, y'know."

"I'm not smoking." Shenlong simply answered before leaving. After the door closed, he pulled a small lighter from his pocket. "Not yet, in the words of Akamaru." Shenlong, unable to summon the crows in the hallway due to their startling appearance and, with his luck, will probably scare some oldtimer. So, he swift-walked down the hall, around the corner out of sight.

Deciding Shenlong's habit wasn't relevant anymore at the moment,Neko slid the ribbon from one hand to the other, admiring the movements and bright color. She drew it across her wrist, cocking her head to study it in the room's light. Quietly, she handed it back to Vapor, smiling in amusement at how fast her sister tied it around her left hand.Vapor completed it with a cute little bow on top, oddly reminding Neko of Minnie Mouse's bow.

"Why do you have it around your hand? Is it some type of bad fashion statment in the Mist?" Neko teased, crossing her arms.

"Ha, you only say that because you know Konoha could never pull this off." Vapor replied, waving her hand with a sly grin.

"As if. Konoha has better tastes in fashion than the Mist ever could!"

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, like Sumikoa! She has cute clothes AND the Kazekage!"

"Huh, that's funny. I seem to remember Sumikoa saying she was from the Mist. Mist thanks you for your compliment, though!"

"Hn, Sumikoa never said that. Liar!"

"We'll see about that"

Sumikoa walked down the hallway's carpet, clutching the tray with the various cups and large pot of coffee close to her. Her eyes wandered from each side of the hallway, searching. Neko and Shenlong and whomever else was on the other hall, well, except for Ino, whom had left soon after Vapor came in, much to everyone's unknowing.

"Room 662, 663..." Sumikoa mumbled to herself as she passed the hospital doors, the blunt lifeless things they were. Would've been nice for some color, especially since it helps with memory loss. "664, 665, ...666...Here it is. Odd..."

Naruto Uzumaki. Room 666. Condition: Lack of sleep.

"'Lack of sleep.'" Sumikoa read, shaking her head. "Well, no point trying to tell a deaf dog to sit." Reaching out, the cold doorknob shocked her hand, nearly causing her to drop the coffee. With a shake of her hand, she turned the know that opened the lame door. Hesitantly, she peeked around the door as quietly as possible, not wanting to awaken the boy if he was asleep.

Instead, Naruto was sitting upright in his bed, staring at his palms. His face showed sadness and his blond hairfell halway over his deep blue eyes. His whiskers, however, were still dark and sketchy looking, like someone came along and doodled on his face. Naruto glanced at Sumikoa from the corner of his eyes, budging by the least bit.

"Hey, Naruto." Sumikoa greeted, smiling at him, despite how much he could get on her nerves. Naruto muttered something, something Sumikoa figured was a hello and didn't bother to ask.

"You okay?" Asked Sumikoa, walking in with the warm tray. She left the door open, unable to close it at the moment. She walked around the cluster of torn paper on the floor, pausing by Naruto's bed with the tray held outwards.

"Want some? I don't think Shenlong or Vapor need any caffiene at the moment with the tenshion going on between them. Neko hates coffee, so ..there's defonitely plenty to go around." Sumikoa shrugged tiredly, her medium black hair swaying in and out of her face. It gently brushed over a small cut on her cheek, once again because of the table splitting into two.

Naruto shook his head in decline. From the looks of it to Sumikoa, he looked very troubled by something. But why wouldn't he? Sumikoa thought, I'd be upset if I knew a killer demon that killed so many and made my life a living hell was coming back to screw up the peaceful life that had taken so long to make.

"Well,..okay, then..bye, get well soon, Naruto." Sumikoa said over her shoulder as she started for the door again. Naruto finally looked up, watching the girl as she went. Suddenly, a sharp pain erupted in his head, forcing a snarl on his face so randomly it looked fake. Just as quickly as it had come, Naruto's mood change was gone, and he was the same once more.

"Sumikoa," He muttered, hiding the sharp fangs on his teeth behind his lip. Sumikoa stopped, turning back around from her spot at the door.

"Yes?" She asked, noticing something in his eyes. They seemed to have a slight glow to them, something she hadn't noticed before. Naruto closed the deep blue sapphires called eyes, seemingly in thought. Then, he looked alot like Gaara, and no one knew that better than Sumikoa, which worried her because both boys suffered, or once suffered, from the bijuu in them.

"...A nurse,..." Naruto mumbled, keeping his eyes shut tight. " Sumikoa, Kyuubi hurt a nurse! Please, you have to help her!" Naruto's eyes shot open, aligned with tears of regret. He pointed at the paper pile on the floor, drawing Sumikoa's attention to it like a moth to a flame.

Sumikoa froze. The shredded paper wasn't paper, but instead a nurse's hat, torn to bits and stained. Blood stained, what Sumikoa once thought was ink. Sumikoa's eyes widened, astonished and startled at the same time.

"Naruto!" Sumikoa exclaimed loudly about to add something else before Naruto butt in.

"Sumikoa, please! You have to help her! She's bleeding in the closet!!" Naruto cried indicating with his finger at the closet. Dropping the coffee tray so that it splattered all over the floor, Sumikoa raced for the greenish closet door, not even considering wasting a moment.

She touched it in half a second, swinging it open with amazing strength. At first, she thought she saw nothing because her eyes weren't adjusted to the darkness of it. But when they did adjust, she couldn't believe her eyes. Nothing was in there, no blood, no nurse, no sign of struggle or anything of the sort.

"Naruto what-" Sumikoa, completely confused, said backing out the closet and bumbing into something sharp. Swiftly she turned around, screaming the minute she did.

Naruto, half of his face furry and a deep and threatening red with a fanged grin stretching from each side of his face, held out his hand. His nails were like knives, longer than when he did a regular transformation, the same thing Sumikoa bumbed into. A large ear poked over his headband, joining the rest of his body like a two-faced Japanese mask.

His claw shot up, grasping a hold on Sumikoa's neck and effectively silencing her scream. "Not exactly a nurse...," Naruto chuckled, his voice no longer his orignal voice, deeper and more frightening like the Kyuubi's. "But you will do perfect for my first kill, Sumikoa"

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Note's Author: meh, I'm so slow with this. XD Enjoy your week folks! Another chap from Shenlong will be out...clicks tongue when I feel like I have made you guys wait enough. jk, c ya and thanks for reading! 


	5. Chapter 5 Shen

Chapter 4: Sumikoa 

Disclaimer: This is my turn to do a chapter now so this comes out faster than one of Neko's chapters, but she adds the detail to it. This is Shenlong7 by the way and I own two things, Jack and Shenlong, but I'm not using Jack in this ff so I just own Shenlong. You know the drill let's get on with the story.

Neko:...shrugs I just lose my train of thought sometimes. P But yes, this is Shenlong's chapter, and this is a collaboration. Sayo and Enjoy!

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Neko was talking quietly with her sister about her interesting teacher, the emphasis being on interesting, and about all the missions that she had been a part of with him. Vapor listened curiously for though she may have had a pronounced antipathy for the man himself, she had great respect for the legend that went with the name Shenlong. His record of kills bordered on sociopathic, is sanity bordered on psychopathic, and his keeper, as she was called, was also known for being friendly with everyone, but for some reason she was very strict with Shenlong. The thoughts of hers and the words Neko spoke brought bback painful memories to Vapor for some reason, having not ever seen them until then. Vapor didnБ─≥t know if she could ever get over the image of Shenlong, covered in the crimson blood of the men he killed, holding her bloody sister, who looked different than before, as he walked off, ignoring her cries.

"So why do you stick with him?"Vapor finally asked as she eyed her sister seriously, trying to find out the real reason why she was still his student and not back in the mist with her own sister. Her true-blooded sister, not some weird man that broke them apart by simpling donating some blood. "Please Neko, tell me why you are still following him and not coming back to your home?"

Sumikoa was anything but a weak page kuinochi, which is what others sometimes accused her of being before she ripped them a new one. Even though she was more of a reinforcement person, often talking with the operatives as they were on their missions, she could easily switch and become attacker, dealing a whole mess of pain to the opponent. Of course, Shenlong was always listening to music and for some reason loved to listen to heavy metal that he would crank up so that someone else with a trained ear could hear it. If there was one thing wrong with Shenlong it was that he was too violent a person to be what the idea of a proper shinobi was, but at that moment, Sumikoa wished her heart would allow her to harm so easily like Shenlong or that he was there in the room. Most of all, she wished her beloved Gaara-sama was there to save her from the demon that threatened to kill her with the face of one of the most cheerful boys she had ever met.

Naruto didn't look like he could kill anybody or at least kill them with a killer intent. If anything he looked like he would kill them with his unperishable kindness. Now he looked like a pure bread killer, just waiting to be let out of its cage for a minute or two, but Naruto wasn't the one who had been let out of his cage. The blood red fur that covered half of his face, the long ears that poked over his headband, the sharp teeth and claws, all of these things gave away the true identity of her attacker, the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Everything about Naruto now was very threatening and oppressive, just like the monster that was lying inside of him.

"Now then,"said Naruto in his Kyuubi voice as he threw Sumikoa against the closet wall, her back making a hard impact onto the wall in the closet. The wind was knocked out her, forcing the blood to gather in her throat and slowly make its way her mouth. Gasping for air, Sumikoa grunted as the boy pulled her back into the room, his grip growing everso tighter around her neck.

"I think that since you disappointed me by not being a nurse I should go extra rough on you and take my time sweet with you. That sounds fair doesn't it?"A startling grin spread across his face, showing off all icicles normally considered teeth in his mouth.

As soon as Naruto went for her, claws extended with an intense blood lust radiating off of them like a warning sign, a kunai flew right past his nose causing him to turn and look at the person who had thrown the kunai. The person who had thrown the kunai was tall, about 6 feet and 10 inches, wore all black with dark shades on. Naruto, or the Kyuubi to be more accurate, recognized the man in the doorway to be the one and only Shenlong. Another grin spread across Naruto's face, his darkened eyes beginning to narrow dangerously, but Shenlong took out his lighter to light a cigarette right after the weapon was thrown, completely ignoring the boy who still had Sumikoa's neck in a tight grip. Sumikoa rolled her eyes, despite her situation, already annoyed at the smoke that wasn't billowing around.

"I'd have thought even a demon knew how to treat a lady."said Shenlong as he tilted his head down to look at Naruto from a strange angle. "I guess I was wrong about that."

"Your chakra...it gives off a sense of killer power..heheh, much more worth killing." said Naruto as he let go of Sumikoa, pushing her back a bit with his pure force. A demonic gaze appeared, signaling no control via Naruto whatsoever. "Heheheh, I'm going to enjoy peeling the flesh from your body!"

"You look like you need to lighten up,"said Shenlong as he took the cigarette out of his mouth and spat out the fire he had absorbed from it. Naruto jumped right onto the ceiling to dodge the blast and scoffed at the suna ninja. His feet, now red paws with sharp claws, peirced through the thick ceiling like it was paper.

"You know spiting is a nasty habit,"laughed Kyuubi-Naruto. "It's just as nasty as smoking."

"It's more preferable than attacking kuinochi when their guard is down."retorted Shenlong as he took out a sword from under his coat. Even with the Kyuubi being so close, Sumikoa couldn't help but wonder where that man kept all of his weapons. Cautiously, she ran a hand through her bag at her side, searching for one particular scroll. Her finger touched it, the ability to tell it from the others being it had spikes that stuck anyone other than Sumikoa. Waiting was all she could do at the moment, at least until Kyuubi-Naruto had calmed down. The scroll's secrets were too valuable to be given to something so powerful.

"Now then I think I should take my coat off, don't want it to get damaged."said Shenlong as he slipped his coat off to reveal the tattoos and scars on his arms that weren't covered by his black leather vest. Sumikoa had always advised him to were the regular jonin vest, but Shenlong just happened to have a black leather fetish, or at least that's what she thought. Kyuubi-Naruto couldn't wait a second longer as it leapt at him with the sharp claws outstretched, but the boy was knocked back by Shenlong's horse cutter technique, which involved a quick flash with a tremendous burst of chakra strength. Naruto rebounded from the attack like it was nothing only to go at Shenlong one more time as the latter tried to knock him closer and closer to the window so he could get Naruto outside. Shenlong was determined to keep all civilian casualties to a maximum of zilch, not wanting to have another Neko on his hands or to have another failure on his hands. Using one his clawed hands, Naruto rebounded off the ceiling and right at Shenlong who ducked to avoid the strike that might have broken his sword in two or four. Not to be caught from behind, Shenlong turned as he ducked and threw a kunai at the boy that was caught in the boy's teeth. Without a single word, the boy ran out the doorway and into the hall where he started climbing on the walls.

"Damn, this is going to bad for me,"said Shenlong as he turned to Sumikoa. "Get everyone in the hospital evacuated and tell Tsunade to be ready for a five prong seal. Also, make sure Neko's safe, I do not want her to get hurt in her already weakened condition."

"I can help you, I'm not weak you know,"Sumikoa declared as she stood and brushed herself off, retreiving a kunai from the same bag. "You're going to need more help to deal with the Kyuubi now."

"He's only a one tail, I can take him when he's a one tail,"said Shenlong as he walked out the door and leaned his head back to add, "This is a favor that I am personally asking for you. If you do this for me I owe you one."

Shenlong ran down the hall to track the trail that Naruto had left with his claws, though Shenlong could smell him just fine and as soon as he started analyzing the hospital's structure to the trail that the Kyuubi possessed boy was going, Shenlong could tell that he wasn't moving about random. There was only one room he was headed to, none others. The Kyuubi had one intentional target:: Neko.

"Well you know how I can never trust men after our father abused us and took his life," said Neko as she looked out towards the cloudy landscape from her spot on the comfy bed. A painful memory of her father, tall, dark, and handsome as so called, lying dead on the floor, Vapor a few feet away with tears falling out of her eyes though she made not a sound. "Shenlong-sensei was the first man to ever do any good by me and he's taught me how to control the gifts that he gave me. He gave me that to save my life, bled so that I could live. In every way, he's been the father I never had and he's the only teacher I'd trust completely. I still need to get stronger and he's the only way I can."

"So he means more to you than your own sister?" asked Vapor. Vapor was still waiting for a reply from Neko as she crossed her arms and looked at her sister, a frown across her face. Now, more than ever, she felt a superior bond between them, no matter how long they had been apart. Now she wanted nothing more than to be by her sister's side again, helping her with her foolhardy pranks and giving her advice that, even if she was proven wrong sometimes, never destroyed the great repsect she had for Vapor. Her sister didn't even know why she was still with that bastard anymore.

Neko's mouth opened to say something, but as soon as she opened it, she closed it shut in shock and grabbed the kunai pouch that Shenlong had given to her as a gift. Inside were slots that were used to organize the different kunai types from the regular kunai and places for her to put any special items that could fit in there. More than often it was Shenlong who had to carry it since she had a terrible memory with the pouch, even though he would chew her out for leaving the pouch behind as a sign of incompetence. Sometimes Neko wondered why she stayed with her sensei herself, sometimes even reasoning that he would kill her before he would allow her to leave to keep his secrets and his blood from getting into the hands of the mist, but she knew that her sensei would never kill her. Inside her head, Neko knew without a doubt that Shenlong did care for her like a daughter and a student, alternating between the two, and it was this care for her that was saving her life now. Which is why he gave her that pouch because he didn't want her to die for the stupid reason of mistaking an explosive kunai for a regular kunai, again.

"What is it?"asked Vapor as she looked at her sister and then at her barking Pomeranian, as it seemed to be frightened by something. Neko's nose scrunched up, a worried expression on her face being enough to tell Vapor something wasn't right. It was then she became aware of the presence that was coming closer and closer towards their room and she performed a mist jutsu so that whoever it was wouldn't go for her sister. The mist thickened, billowing around both Neko and Gin, Vapor as the only one to see it and the only one viewable.

"Can Neko come out to play,"said a terrifying voice that only seemed to come closer, its steps sending tremors into the hospital floor as it inched closer towards the room. The door swung open as Naruto walked into the room, his eyes pure red with a feral look on it and his face looked like a mix between Naruto and a demon. Vapor had seen the boy sometimes, but she didn't know about his special prisoner that had just been set free.

"Naruto?" Came Neko's soft whisper, and Gin's silence. Suddenly, Gin howled, a bit of blood splattering onto Vapor's foot. Looking down into the fog, Gin was lying on her side, a kunai plunged into her right leg, her eyes wide and puppy cries of pain issuing out of her snout. Another cry, this time Neko, drawing Vapor to her attention. Neko, too, had a kunai stabbing into her arm, hers more serious since Gin had thick fur to help reduce bloody incidents and Neko had no fur, the kunai nailing her right where the hospital shirt sleeve cut off.

Without thinking, Vapor threw a hidden kunai right at the boy only to see him block the kunai with a claw and she felt something weird against her cheek that sent her flying across the room. She felt warm liquid trickling down her cheek, but she was to shocked to feel any of the pain a person who had just had been hit like her would feel. She looked into the eyes of the thing that would kill her, watching it charge towards her, and felt a terror in her lungs that she had never felt before. She realized that she would die and there was nothing she could do about it, not even enough time to iniate a jutsu that would save her, but as the claw was coming out towards her, something unexpected happened.

As she felt the warm liquid splatter on her face, she looked up to see that the blood wasnБ─≥t her blood, but it was the blood of Shenlong, who had blocked the blow with his own body. The claw had gone right through Shenlong's body, but it had missed all of his vital organs and Shenlong just simply removed the claw, tapped his forehead with a chakra-covered finger, and eased the boy's body down to the floor. The fox demon like features began to recede from his face, all except the thick whiskers, and the boy seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Vapor didn't know what to say, she wanted to thank the man, but at the same time she was shocked that he had actually saved someone that hated his guts from a fatal wound.

Of all people in the world, Shenlong, the man she wished had died, stood before her with blood dripping from a large wound in his chest. The mist, now dispersing due to Vapor's sudden change in emotions due to the terror Naruto brought, wavered around, desperately trying to get back in touch with Vapor. She mentally made it leave, starting to feel sick from the blood on her face, mainly her own.

"Th-thank you.. for saving me,... Shenlong-san, I guess..." said Vapor as she slightly bowed to the suna ninja, avoiding any chance of making eye contact. But, his eyes had fixed their sights on the blood that was on the floor, his blood that dripped so freely from his wound. "Here,... please..allow... let me go get a doctor... while you ..rest."

"Don't waste your time, just check on Neko, she seems to have taken a bit of a blow," replied Shenlong as he pointed at her sister who had been punched while trying to save her. Vapor's attention shot towards Neko faster than a person could say "mouse", gasping as she saw her sister leaning against the bedend(N/N:whatever you call that board at the front of the bed), rubbing the swollen cheek she had recently obtained. Shenlong just walked out without another word, whistling a tune as he looked casually to see Sumikoa standing there, staring at his wound.

"Come on, I can check on that wound," said Sumikoa as she reached over to him, but he withdrew and opened his vest to show the wound was closing, a gruesome sight to say the least. Sumikoa frowned, not really amused by the wound's deepness and how it was recovering by itself. "That took only ten minutes,..guess you really did great."

"Seems,his seal is weakening daily, by the looks of it."Announced Shenlong as he walked off. "This will keep on continuing, no doubt, until Halloween when it will weaken for 24 hours. Someone has to keep a close watch on him every day until we can get it sealed."

"So where are you going,"asked Sumikoa as she looked at him concerned. She could tell that he hated the fact that he didn't need help, the fact that he wasn't normal like anyone else.

"Are you my keeper?" asked Shenlong as he walked off, leaving only the lingering smell of his cigarette smoke behind.

"I suppose I'll have to get your keeper here then," said an annoyed Sumikoa, who hated it when he did that whole macho lone wolf skit. She walked in to see Vapor looming over her sister as she checked for any wounds.

"Is she okay?" asked Sumikoa concerned for the girl's well being. Vapor looked up, smiling at her friend she had known for years. Gin, licking her wound as it healed rapidly due to the tag around her neck, perked her ears, seeing Sumikoa as well. She barked, racing towards Sumikoa and jumping into her arms to proceed and lick her face, remembering how the girl had saved her life before.

"Yeah, thanks to that bas-I mean Shenlong," replied Vapor, correcting the derogatory word that she always used to describe Shenlong. She shrugged, laughing at her mistake. Gin barked, giving Sumikoa the chance to talk.

"Your cheek is bleeding," said Sumikoa as she picked up a towel on a chair and cleaned the cut on her face. Vapor flinched at the clothe's touch, but stayed quiet in deep thought. "You're lucky that the damage wasn't greater than it is."

"I was lucky that... he... was there," said Vapor as she stared off into space, her mind still wondering what to think of the odd man. "Sumikoa-san, what do you think of Shenlong-san?" Vapor glanced over at Naruto, the boy still sleeping without a care.

"Well he's a bit of an asshole sometimes, pardon me for saying that, but he does some of the most unnecessary stuff that is often detrimental to the mission. He smokes, he's a smartass half of the time and when he does get with the program, he feels like he has to go through this routine of insulting his enemy before killing them. That man has all of these quirks, but at the end of the day, he gets the job done and whenever he sees someone that needs help, he helps them."Sumikoa answered, folding the towel to a smaller size. Silently, she tossed it back onto the chair, getting a perfect score then turned her attention to Gin. Sitting on the bed beside Vapor and Neko, Sumikoa laid Gin down on her lap, crossing her hands to heal the wound on the pup's leg. Gin wagged her tail in thanks, glad for Sumikoa's painless jutsu.

"But why does he act like he has a stick shoved up his ass?"Vapor mumbled, rubbing the scratch on her cheek. Her hand driffted to the spots where Shenlong's blood had been, where it was still warm for some reason. Her hand touched some fresh blood, brushing it off. As soon as it left, Vapor gritted her teeth as the spot burned, but she remained quiet.

"Shenlong didn't have a very happy child hood, starting from the moment he bore witness to his parent's murder by the hands of bandits. When he saw them there, standing over the bodies of his beloved parents, Shenlong slaughtered every last bandit in rage, he was about six years old at the time. Later one, when he was about seven, he was an unwilling participant in Orochimaru's experiments, which is probably the reason why he acts like he has something against the world since he is now different than anybody else. At the age of eight he was adopted into a wolf clan and joined Suna when Gaara-sama became the Kazekage." Sumikoa explained, finishing with Gin and stroking her fluffy back. The pomeranian grinned doggylike, licking Sumikoa's other hand.

"Oh...Geez, and I thought Harry Potter had a bad adolsence.." Vapor said, rubbing the burning spot. Sumikoa looked up, noticing the girl's special attention to that one spot.

"What? Did you get burned by the blood?" Sumikoa asked, then continued on when Vapor raised an eyebrow. "His blood does that sometimes. Werewolf thing. You get used to it after awhile. All that happens is you get a red spot where it burned that looks alot like blood."

Vapor froze, already seeing what was going to happen. "Please don't tell me..." Vapor groaned, slapping her hand to her face, then suddenly gasping.

"Oh, forgot to mention, it hurts if you touch it."

"I've noticed..."

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Neko's Notes: ah, please review, people. 3 Feedback is loved greatly. Anyway, you got this far, so I hope you enjoyed and continue to read. P Again, thanks to Shenlong for this early chapter. 


	6. Chapter 6 Shen

Chapter 5: The Search Begins

Disclaimer: Shenlong again, I know you want the brilliance of Neko, but you're stuck with me. Neither she nor I own Naruto or the characters of Naruto. I own Shenlong, Neko owns Neko (were you expecting the Addams Family?) and Sumikoa owns Sumikoa. Neko also owns Vapor.

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Shenlong walked into the secluded forest while singing some Black Sabbath song in the worse imitation of Ozzy Osbourne. He had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth as he gazed at the full moon that was out, it was another night like that, the kind where he always seemed to get the urge to have a bite. Around him were the members of his wolf clan, all lined up to hear the reason they were summoned to that forest very suddenly by one of their leaders. From the sighs and sweat drops he was observing, Shenlong could tell that they didn't enjoy his singing, but then again he knew he sucked at Ozzy Osbourne.

"You should probably stick to Paul McCartney (NN:Hell yeah!) or Trent Reznor if you're going to sing," said Nobunaga as he brushed his paw over his ear. "Really, no one can pull of his voice, so don't you go trying."

"Sorry about that, I was just in the mood,"б² said Shenlong as he put the cigarette out on his fist only to have the wound heal slower than it should. "The reason I have called you all here is to ask for a certain item that could help a recent problem that we're having in Konoha."

"Ah,I believe you're referring to the weakening of the boy's seal, am I right?" asked Nobunaga as he noted Shenlong's interest into the slowly healing wound. "That is the price you pay for fighting the Kyuubi and receiving such an injury. The demonic chakra is impeding your ability to heal yourself and as such you will not be able to rely on that as you usually do. At Least, not for a while."

"Yes I am referring to that boy and since you know then you must have made your decision about my request prior to my summons," replied Shenlong as he looked at his black furred cousin. "So have you decided to hand it to me or will I have to do that forbidden seal myself?"

"Your getting involved in something that is not required of you nor is it your fault," observed Nabunaga as he grinned at Shenlong. "That woman you're infatuated with must be changing you for the better"

"Well I don't see that much change in my singing," laughed Shenlong as he took of his glasses so that their eyes would meet. "Please Nobuga, I have no time to talk about the changes in my attitude and you know their problem could just as easily escalate to our problem. May I have the amulet"

"Only on the promise that you must never use it unless you have to,"б² replied Nobunaga as he held the amulet out with his paw. "Don't sacrifice yourself unless it's completely necessary"

"I won't use it unless I have to," swore Shenlong as he caught the thrown amulet in his hand. "There are just some things I have sworn to protect with my life and I will take every measure to ensure that I accomplish my goal"

"Oh god and another thing I hate is his cocky attitude." said Sumikoa with a sigh as she and Vapor started talking about the problems with a certain suna hunter ninja. All of them were still relaxing in the hospital room, Neko having finally woken up, pointed out the dot on Vapor's forehead, then laughed harderthan she ever had. Naruto was also awake, but left to go somewhere instead. "Does he have to act like he can automatically kick the crap of every single opponent that he faces?! I swear it's always over confident shinobi like that who screw up the missions." Sumikoa shook her head.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." agreed the nodding Vapor as she took a sip of the soda that she had snuck from one of the nurse's lounge. "Every time I ran into him during missions he's always begging us to try and take the bounty on his head, like we don't have better things to do. Then again, that's what the new leader wants to do in the Mist besides bring Neko back. In fact, I'm wondering what he would do with Neko if he got his hands on her; he is definitely a tyrant and has a streak of sadism in him. The old leader, I had no problem with because I knew he was fair, but this one... "

"Ahem. I'm right here, Vapor." Neko coughed, waving at her sister, who waved back but ignored her statement.  
"What do you mean a streak of sadism in him?" asked Sumikoa, a bit concerned about what was happening in what was her native village. She knew her brother and the rest of her family were skilled shinobi, but she wasn't too sure how safe they were since she hadn't been there in a while. "And a new leader? What happened to the old?"

"Well he seems to approve of the most bizarre and brutal killings sometimes. The old leader died of old age, so we hear, but I have my doubts on that." replied Vapor as a look of disgust crept over her face as she thought about the gory images, but she immediately put on a smile as she saw that her words were disturbing her friend. "Don't worry, he's not putting out death squads or anything, just some weird things going, but it's nothing to worry about. He just feels he has to intimidate everyone he comes across because he took over the Mist by force."

"Just be careful Vapor, I don't want to see you having any problems with anything okay?" Sumikoa said, taking a slight look at the bandaged part of her arm, the part that fit in so well it looked like their was no bandage, a tactic Mist ninja used sometimes to hide weak points.

"Don't worry about me, I'd be worried about Shenlong-teme if I were you," replied Vapor as she looked at Sumikoa with a very serious look on her face. "The bounty has only gotten larger and the new leader is planning on sending out assignation squads for Shenlong's head. If they see you with him and Neko, they'll try and kidnap you as a hostage. The hostages brought back to Mist, they don't stay hostages for long. THey become crow food, the ones that some of us couldn't save."

"Hello?! I'm in the same room!"

"That cocky baka would probably go charging right into the Mist to complain to the new leader that the bounty isn't high enough."б² laughed Sumikoa as she nearly choked on her sake. Just as she was swallowing down the rice wine, Naruto came bursting in holding a book above his head followed by a blushing Hinata.

"I'VE FOUND THE SOLUTION TO MY PROBLEM YOU GUYS!"б² shouted Naruto as the top of his lungs, which was received with many shouts of "shut the hell up" or "I'm trying to sleep."

"Well, that's interesting because everyone in here is female." Vapor muttered, spilling soda on her shirt.

"What is it, Naruto?" asked Sumikoa as she had her fingers in her ear.

"I told Hinata about my problem and to my surprise she knew about this book." declared Naruto as he slammed the book down on the table next to Neko's bed and pointed at the page that was book marked. "There is apparently an ancient ruins under the catacombs of Konoha that has, somewhere in it, the lost library of Katsumoto. In this library are scrolls for all types of seals and jutsus that we can use before Halloween."

"Heyy, hold on. How come you can tell Hinata but I can't tell Ino?! What's up with that?" Neko asked, astonished. Naruto shrugged, crossing his arms over his bright orange and blue jacket, complete with holes were the Kyuubi's chakra had let loose.

"That has got to be the most intelligent thing that you've done." said Sumikoa as she stared in shock at the grinning boy.  
"It was all Hinata's genius!" said Naruto as he hugged the shy girl, who was turning crimson when he hugged her, nearly fainted at his touch. "Thanks a bunch, Hinata! How can I ever make this up to you?"

"What kind of question is that," asked a voice from above them. Sumikoa sighed as Shenlong seemed to slip out of the ceiling the same way a baby slips out of the womb, making one of his dramatic entrances. "A gentleman always buys the lady who helped him dinner and he takes her to some place fancy, not some ramen shack"

"Ichiruka is not a ramen shack," retorted Naruto in defense of his favorite restaurant.

"Yeah sensei, Ichiruka is a nice sit down restaurant where you can meet the common man," said Neko as she sat up in her bed.

"Don't get to excited, baka, or else you'll just die of exhaustion," said Shenlong in a casual manner. "Plus, you never see anyone going to Ichiruka in a tie. That's because it's not meant for extremely fancy dining, but some place like the Red Dragon"

"You...don't h-h-have to take me out to dinner there N-N-Naruto-kun," said Hinata as she pointed her fingers together.

"No, he's right, I should take you out to someplace a little fancier" replied Naruto with a grin. "Just like I'm sure that Shenlong would take Yuki to if she had ever helped him in some way and to pay on those lost games of poker."

"I'll be putting that off for a while until I win a game," said Shenlong as he took a sip of the milkshake in his hand.

"Hey can I have some milkshake, Shenlong-sensei," asked Neko as she reached her hands out. Vapor twitched, may it be the from Neko or the sudden sear of pain in her arm. She rubbed her bandage without a word, earning a questioning look from Sumikoa.

"You mean this milkshake in my hand?" asked Shenlong teasingly as he took a sip of it just to be cruel. "Nope."

"You're being mean Shenlong-sensei!" said Neko with a pouty face, but she knew that she would be getting a milkshake soon because standing behind Shenlong was a woman who was four inches shorter than Shenlong and had sandy brown hair. His keeper, Yuki, was standing right behind him with her arms crossed.

"Down boy," commanded Yuki in a loud voice as Shenlong fell down on his face. When Shenlong and Yuki once met, he was very self centered and border line narcissistic due to his inexperience in having a personality. Deciding to cure this, Gaara and Izanagi commanded Shenlong to hand his headband to her, which he did without question, and Yuki placed a talisman that would make him fall on his face whenever she said the phrase, "down boy." Neko laughed as the milkshake splattered all on the floor and Shenlong's face and shirt, along with Naruto.

"Oh, I forgot to mention that we called Yuki here to help us with Naruto by possibly giving him a charm in his headband," said Sumikoa in a tone that told him that she was pleased with her decision. "Now then, I'm hoping that you would like to go out with us to search the ruins for a certain lost library."

"What?! Oh, come one!! You can tell her, too?!" Neko exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. Gin, frightened, barked and leaped onto Vapor's lap, whimpering. Vapor shushed her, stroking her soft fur gently

.  
"When do we leave?" asked Shenlong sighing at the fact that he had no choice, but to go unless he wanted to have his spine destroyed by a barrage of "down boy" commands.

"You forgot my milkshake," beamed a grinning Neko as she looked at her sensei, completely ignoring the fact she couldn't tell about the seal but everyone else could, or so it seemed.

"Okay so this is the entrance to the catacombs," announced Sumikoa as she looked at the map and then at the entrance.A tunnel, deep and eerie looking was right smack in the middle of Konoha, something quite odd and rare. "Why does Konoha have catacombs?" asked Neko as she peered into the doorway cautiously. "There aren't any zombies down there are there?" She asked, grasping a karma necklace around her neck.

"They're coming to get you Neko.." chanted Shenlong in a creepy voice as he leaned over to whisper it in her ear. Neko froze, eyes wide and a thousand shivers coursing down her spine as she looked into the tunnel.

"Could you stop acting like a child for once?" asked Yuki with a very annoyed look on her face.

"Well here goes nothing," said Naruto as he crossed the threshold of light and tripped over his feet, plunging into the darkness. Neko screamed, having not paid any attention, thus peircing everyone's ears as she mistook Naruto for a zombie.

"Sorry." Neko said sheepishly as she looked around at the poeple with new earches. Gin, probably the worst victim due to her high sense of hearing, whined, scratching Vapor's leg. Vapor picked Gin up, holding her close and walking up to Neko.

"Hey, Nek..I wish I could stay longer, but, I've got to deliver this message to Temari before I get in a whole mess of trouble. I'm sorry." Vapor said, opening her free arm for a hug. Neko stared up at her, eyes watering, but nodded in understanding. Neko hugged her sister, Gin as well.

"You comin' back?" Neko asked as they released their grip on each other. Vapor nodded smiling and ruffling Neko's hair.

"Hey, I just brushed that!" Neko complained, laughing. Vapor grinned, waving goodbye to everyone except Shenlong, whom she merely gave a half-nod to. Before she left, Sumikoa strided up beside her, walking in pace with her.

"Tell my brother and family I said, 'Hi' ,'kay?" She said, crossing her arms against the chilly wind. "Oh, and becareful. From the looks of it, you are going to be in hot water not bringing Neko back, y'know."

"Huh? How did you-"

"I'm not stupid, Vapor. For one, messenger-nins have knapsacks instead of slings anf two, we use hawks more often since this rogue sightings ordeal has gotten out of hand..." Sumikoa finished, closing her eyes for a split second.

"Hn, right, thanks, Sumikoa. Watch out for the Mist, even though it's your country. And for prank calls during the night. Danged Halloween prankers." Vapor bit her lip in annoyance, aving good bye to Sumikoa as the two went opposite directions.

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Neko's Notes: Ahehehe, yeah, this was supposed to come out yesterday but I, uh, ...forgot? Blame Gaia Grunny at Gaia exchange!!(they're too cute!!) Anyway, thanks to Shenlong7 for this chapter! Happy Halloween and take Vapor's advice! Oh, and if you don't review, I'M ROLLING YOUR YARD!!!(Angel Soft in stock) XD Sayo!


	7. Chapter 7 Neko

锘? ---- don't know how that got there, but I like it. D Next Chapter: Through the tunnel to the mysterious chamber we go! 

Disclaimer: Yup, Neko's turn today! Finally got my lazy self in gear. Now, as said once, and probably millions of times again, Nor me or Shenlong own any canon characters in Naruto, but we own our OCs: Shenlong-Shenlong, Neko-Neko,Vapor. Well all except for Sumikoa, who is the OC of Sumikoa..obviously.

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Their soft footsteps echoed down the trail they headed, occasionally joined by the scurrying of tiny mouse paws, however they got in there. Their scurrying was a positive sign to the ninja, meaning edible substances were around in the tunnel. But when looking around, all the bold shinobi could see were crumbling walls and a bunch of cracked rocks, all with some type of poisonous fungi on them. Naruto's stomach soon began to growl, drawing him to rub it sadly.

"Man, I wish I had brought some ramen to eat." Naruto mumbled, his down face looking out of place with the Kyuubi's darkening whiskers. They were like that for some while now, growing the least bit lighter.

"Well, find a snack and eat it. But only one since we don't know how much food there is here and you already ate earlier." Sumikoa answered, pulling her backpack to the front and fumbling through it. A second later, she produced a lantern from it, and a portable pole, beginning to put the two together.

"Where?" Naruto asked, his foxlike, confused face cocked at Sumikoa questioningly. Sumikoa raised an eyebrow, glancing at him for a moment before returning to the lantern.

"Where do you think, Naruto?" Sumikoa's took on a bit of annoyance, shown in the way she eyed the boy. Naruto still stared at her in confusion. "The bag, Naruto, the bag."

"Bag?" That one word brought everyone to a stop, save for poor Hinata, who bumped into Naruto by accident. Her face grew a brigt red, looking almost like a very mad cartoon character's face.

"You did bring the bag, didn't you?" Sumikoa asked Naruto in a dangerous voice that made everyone near step out of the way. Quickly, Yuki took the lantern from Sumikoa's grasp, it being long enough to knock out a certain 13-year old with blond hair and passed it to Shenlong, who passed it to Hinata. The girl held it tightly, still blushing.

"Don't answer that one." Shenlong said, standing next to Yuki with his hand in his pocket, no doubt fingering the cigarette he wasn't supposed to have anymore.

"No." Naruto replied, oblivious to the danger he was putting himself in. Shenlong shook his head, walking up a few paces more. Yuki followed, unwilling to get in the middle of this. The only two that stayed were Hinata and Neko, both trapped on the other side of either Sumikoa or Naruto.

"...Uzumaki Naruto, if this is another one of your pranks, I'm going to-" Sumikoa began, but Neko stepped in to try and save Naruto.

"Ah, Naruto's just kidding! He has the food, don't ya, Naruto?" Neko said winking at the fox ninja.

Naruto, puzzeled, gripped the brown straps on his backpack, looking from one former Mist ninja to the other. "Hey, Neko, there's something wrong with your eye. It keeps blinking alot." The boy pointed out, causing Neko to bite her lip. She casted a hesitant glance at Sumikoa, seeing the older girl with her arms cross and an expression that clearly read "Not buying it".

"Ah, thank you very much for that kind concern there, but don't worry about it. Now, remember when we were outside and Sumikoa wne tot tell Vapor goodbye? Remember that prank we were going to pull on Sumikoa? Huh?" Neko grinned, struggling to keep from throwing her hads in the air and slamming her head against the wall.

"Huh?"

"Uh, let's just go get that seal fixed, shall we? Aheheh." Neko said, darting over to Naruto and pushing him. She leaned forward, whispering in his ear."Naruto, you were supposed to say it was a prank."

"How would I know?!" He whispered back.

"Just don't worry aout it." Neko replied, laughing. She stopped pushing him, going around to catch up with the others who were already in the lead. Naruto watched them, preparing to run as well when he heard his name called. Looking back, Naruto saw Hinata staring at something on the wall, the lantern in her hand lit up.

"What?" Naruto asked as he strode up next to her. She pointed at the wall, holding the lantern up so all was seeable. Naruto studied it, trying to decipher what it all mmeant.

"Hey, hey! Come look at this!" Naruto yelled to the others. They were already stopped, questioning Shenlong were he put the lantern and getting the simple answer of "I forgot because I didn't care". Sumikoa and Neko turned first, Yuki and Shenlong arguing behind them.

"Hey, Hinata has the lantern! And it's lit!" Neko said, dashing to where the two genin stood. Sumikoa followed, curious as to what their attention was called to. She came up and stood beside Hinata,all four now gazing up at the wall.

Drawings, cave drawings, stretched across it like a prehistoic story book, more than likely what it was. It depicted people, expressed a feeling of friendship between them all, and showed them as they walked along a trail. All the ninjas eyes, even Yuki and Shenlong whom had just appeared behind them, followed the humans as they journeyed down the path. Six in total, they all seemed like shinobi due to their clothes, except for one whose clothes were too baggy for its own good. They went in a semi-straight line.

Slowly, the doodle ninjas disappeared into the darkness, leading Hinata to scoot along to the next part of the story. Everyone followed the girl in sync, awed at how detailed the cave drawings were. The next part was more gruesome, red berrie juice splattered everywhere on it. The doodle-nins, however, were all alright, bloody it appeared but alive. The story panel ended at them getting a sense of alarm shown by the lines above their heads going out everywhere. Hinata began to move before, suddenly, the lantern went out unexpectedly.

"Ah, it was getting good." Neko complained in the darkness, taking notice rather slowly of how dark it had become over the past minute or so. "Heyy, w-where's the exit?!" The entrance, which had been clearly visible all the while they walked, was now nowhere in sight.

"I don't know, but this is getting very creepy." Sumikoa said, hidden nearby. Neko shivered, looking around at nothing. Hesitantly, she backed up, swiftly turning with her elbow out by accident. It was caught so fast Neko didn't have time to think before she screamed, something getting stuffed in her mouth a moment later.

"Who dare enter my home?!" A deep voice moaned into the darkness, making Neko scream into the object in her mouth. After a moment, she quit, realizing the voice's owner with a jolt. Angrily, she pulled the cloth thing out of her mouth, sending a sharp glare at Shenlong.

"Bleh, what is this?" Neko asked, holding the object up even though nobody could see it. She was answered by the clicking of the lantern, then the sound of a jutsu lighting it up. Now able to see, Neko came face to face with the object.

"OMG! MIJIKAI'S GYM SOCK!!!! BLEEEHHH!!!Yuuuuuckkkk!!!" Neko cried, dropping the sock and scratching her tongue like mad. Shenlong laughed, crossing his arms.

"I hate you for this, sensei!!! I hate you!!" Neko growled, glaring sinisterly at him.

"Well, it wasn't my fault you had the sock in your bag and it was open." Shenlong replied calmly, knowing Neko was joking but still very pissed.

"What? In my bag? What are you-" Neko took off the bag, looking into it then gasping."This is Mijikai's bag!"

"Mijikai carries his gym socks in his bag?" Sumikoa asked from under the lantern, looking a bit confused.

"Look at all this crap in here!" Exclaimed Neko, digging through the bag."Let's see,... a hat, shuriken, gym shoes, ew, ooh, potato chips ..hey, a journal!!" Neko pulled the journal from the clutter, holding it high out of proudness of finnally finding it. Grinning like the Chesire Cat, she flipped it open, reading the very first thing that came to sight.

"'Nice try, Neko. This isn't my journal. Oh, and don't eat my potato chips.'" Neko read, furrowing her eyebrows. "Aw, man. Foiled again. Oh, well. At least I got potato chips." The bag crunched as Neko dug in them, pulling a single potato chip out and gawking at it.

"'Told you not to eat my potato chips'" Neko read on the chip, shaking her hand. The chip remained on her finger, bringing forth a groan from the girl. "Dang you, Mijikai! DANG YOU!!"

Sumikoa sighed, rubbing her head. She took the lantern politely from Hinata, moving past and holding the stick out so it illuminated everything ahead. A deeper and darker tunnelway met their eyes, giving off a bit of a spooky feeling. It was dead silent, save for Neko's infuriated mutters.

"Yep. Always the spooky ways." Sumikoa said, beginning to walk toward the darkness. The others joined her, Neko coming last by not having paid any attention. As they walked, the walls seemed to loom over them, shadows jumped at them, and rocks launched themselves at the group. But this was all just their imagination, right?

"Well I'll be." Yuki stated. The ninja had traveled for awhile now, through the forever long pathways, pausing once during the time Naruto had a tiny bout with the Kyuubi, until they stood before three separate tunnels. One was on either side of the large one in the middle, all looking alike and equally frightening.

"We gotta split up now." Shenlong said, eyeing the middle one.

"Hn?!" Neko whimpered from the end, the chip still on her finger. The girl gulped, clutching her arms like she was cold.

"I'll go with Yuki, of course." Shenlong declared, pointing at the middle tunnel. "Naruto, I'm leaving you in Hinata's care. And Sumikoa, if you'll kindly go with chatterbox back here it would be appreciated."

"Chatterbox?!" Neko protested, glaring.

"Oh, all that chattering I heard back there must've been the rats a few miles away."

"...I thought nobody noticed"

Neko and Sumikoa went down the left tunnel, Neko reluctantly following to be exact. Every sound or movement she heard, she jumped at, whining. Sumikoa didn't pay too much attention, busied with marking the trail that led back and checking for any signs of traps and such. Finally, after hearing Neko squeel for the millionth time, she turned around, sighing in annoyance. Why are little sisters sometimes such an annoyance? Even when they're not yours?

"Neko, there are no such things as zombies, vampires, things that go bump in the night, any of that such. There is nothing to be afraid of." Sumikoa declared, swinging the lantern to the side to prove her words.

Neko nodded, but she still seemed uncertain. "You sure? I really doubt that.." Neko mumbled, directing her gaze to the dirt floor.

"Well, there is Shenlong, but he's a Suna zombie so it's not so bad." Sumikoa said, shrugging. "I promise you, there's nothing to be afraid of. Now come on. We have to hurry and get that scroll before the Kyuubi takes over Naruto again."

Again, Neko nodded, this time looking up with determination. She took one step forward, immediately freezing as her eyes grew wide and all determination left like a light. She shook right where she stood, rattling the kunais in her pocket.

"What?" Sumikoa asked. Behind her, completely out of her awareness, a man walked up. However, he was not an ordinary man, especially with the green, decaying skin that hung limply on his bones. His jaw, the teeth in it rotted and homes to maggots, seemed to be broken, dangling down until it almost touched his neck. His eyes were holes, nothing but holes.

"Z-z-z-zomb-b-b-ieeee!!!" Neko shrieked, realizing her worst fear, save for when Shenlong did the freaky "resurection" routine at times.

"Zom- Neko, there is no such-" Sumikoa began before the zombie tapped her shoulder. With a "one moment" she brushed his hand off and continued. "Now, as I was saying, there is no such-" The zombie thumped his hand hard on Sumikoa's shoulder, getting her full attention and catching the end of her irritation. She swung around, glaring, then changed and her mouth gaped. She gawked up at the zombie, hearing Neko starting to shuffle back. Deciding that would be the best way at the moment, she took off, Neko by her side as the two ran. The zombie, the ugly being it was, tore after them, chasing both them and their blood-curdling screams.


	8. Chapter 8 Shen

О╩©Chapter 7: Thriller Disclaimer: Shenlong7 is the owner of the character Shenlong. Kuinochi Neko is the owner of Neko and Sumikoa is a no brainer. Neither of us own Naruto or the characters.

Neko: Readers, I am truly sorry for any stupid ass signs that show up. I keep trying to erase them but I always end up going back a page whenever I get far so I'm just going to fight them later. They are annoying as hell to me, and I'm pretty sure they will be to you too but I shall fix the problem later once I retireve this computer from the yard after I throw it. . grrrrr...

Have a nice day.

* * *

"Well, did you find anything?"б² asked Yuki as she crouched down next to an exhausted Shenlong, who had been running down tunnels left and right.

"Yeah, I found out that you're wearing those lacy red panties I got you for Christmas." replied Shenlong as he crawled against the wall to stand up."Why the hell do you have no sense of direction what so ever"  
б² "Down boy."б² grumbled Yuki as she angrily stormed off from where Shenlong was lying face down on the hard ground. "I'm trying damn it, but if it wasn't for someone forgetting to retrieve the map from his desk after planning out the trail and then forgetting it, we might have already gotten the damn map."

"Okay, I know I was an ass and I'm very sorry for all the things that I said. Could you ever find it in your heart to forgive me"  
б² "Maybe,"б² said Yuki, turning her head away as she walked off.

"Hey don't get too far, or else I won't be able to protect you," called Shenlong as he chased after her. "You know I have to protect you, right"  
б² "Just because I'm your keeper doesn't mean that you have to watch over me constantly. I can take care of myself, thank you very much."

"You misunderstand me, my dear Yuki." said Shenlong as he walked right up to her and swept her off her feet while bringing his lips to her ear to whisper, "I always protect those dear to my hearts."

He then sneezed and due to the closeness of his mouth to her ear, he sneezed into her ear causing her to punch him in the jaw. He rubbed the swollen spot as she stormed off and he was certain that somewhere, someone had called him a zombie, probably Sumikoa or Neko. Then an all too familiar feeling hit him as he started to receive his student's danger signals that were a part of the link he had with his student due to his blood sharing. Neko was frightened by something and he decided that it was a threat to his student, whom he vowed to protect at all costs.  
"Yuki, we need to move!"б² called Shenlong, but all Yuki did was stand there and he could see the hair standing up on its ends. "Yuki! What is it"  
б² Jumping to attention, Shenlong ran down the hall to see the possible threat to Yuki that had materialized from out of nowhere and the smell of decaying flesh got stronger as he ran towards Yuki. Soon he saw the nightmarish creature that had a torn scalp over pale, rotting flesh that seemed to be peeling off in the most disgusting way and most of its body was just like its skin, decayed. Shenlong pulled out his katana as he placed a hand on Yuki to steady her enough so that she could pull out her twin kodachi. Nodding to her, Shenlong rushed forward and impaled the zombie in its chest while Yuki use her two kodachi to severe it's head from its neck. Moans and groans signaled the approach of the other zombies, an unknown number of them, but Shenlong knew that they had to start for moving. Even if they could kill every zombie it would be a meaningless fight because he would be wasting time on enemies that had no skill.

"Come on, this fight has no point to it so we had better go find see if Neko and Sumikoa need our help."б² said Shenlong as he started backing up.

As soon as they turned to flee, another zombie jumped down from the ceiling, but this one was different from the others. It lacked the stiff joints and awkward gestures that the other zombies had, but it was just a decayed as any other zombie, the only exception being that its head was covered by a mask and it carried a sword. Yuki stepped forward to challenge it, but Shenlong held her off.  
"I need you to go help the girls while I take this one."б² said Shenlong as he pointed his sword at the zombie. "I know you are not weak, but this one would be a problem even for me and I couldn't live with myself if you died because of this thing"  
б² "There is something you're not telling me." said Yuki as she inched away from his outstretched hand.

Б─°Right now just trust me and IБ─≥ll tell you later,Б─² replied Shenlong as blocked the zombieБ─≥s attack. Б─°Go! Now!Б─²

Yuki didnБ─≥t need another order, she ran right past the zombie and towards the tunnel that Neko went through. In the mean time, Shenlong cut down the zombie in front of him and then laid waste to the other zombies in a second, including the new zombie. He didnБ─≥t need Yuki to go off, well it wasnБ─≥t necessary, but Shenlong wanted to watch from the shadows for a while, waiting for the other player to make a move. For some reason he could sense the dragonБ─≥s presence and he knew that it was somewhere in there.

* * *

Naruto walked down the tunnel with a blushing Hinata following him closely, afraid that something bad might happen to her favorite person. The catacombs had an unnatural chill to them that felt like death was all around them, a haunting figure in the shadow on the moonlit night. Every step echoed in the dimly lit underground city of the dead with a sky line laden with foreboding as the sun went down over providence. Naruto didnБ─≥t know what he was following, but he knew that whatever it was it was calling to him, its power acting like a magnet. Hinata wasnБ─≥t sure where he was going and she had her doubts, but his guess of direction was, at this point mind you, as good as hers. As they got closer to the source of the energy, the catacombs seemed to illuminate with an eerie green light that made everything look like some nightmarish abyss.

Б─°You are a bit early, but thatБ─≥s okay, just gives more time for KonohaБ─≥s destruction,Б─² said a familiar booming voice and out of the green light came the very dragon that had caused this mess. Б─°Now then, shall we proceed with the awakening of that seal?Б─²

Б─°I donБ─≥t think so, you over grown Godzilla.Б─² spat Naruto as he pulled out a kunai and lunged at the dragon, ready to stab its heart. He was instead caught by its tail and thrown into a wall made of bone. Б─°ItБ─≥s not Halloween yet, we still have a week.Б─²

Б─°YouБ─≥ve been down here much longer than you think,Б─² laughed the dragon as it punched the boy in his stomach and removed the seal temporarily, it would reappear in 24 hours. Б─°ItБ─≥s midnight and Halloween has just started. What you thought was seven hours was seven days and now it is too late. How fitting that your first victim should be that innocent little girl.Б─²

Б─°Naruto-kun,Б─² cried Hinata as she ran towards him, but she was stopped by a familiar pair of sunglasses.

Б─°Hinata, you need to help Yuki and the others find the scroll with the seal on it,Б─² ordered Shenlong as he took off his glasses to reveal his red wolf eyes. Б─°Even in my true form I can only beat a seven tails, maybe an eight, but the Kyuubi is tougher then me by far.Б─²

Б─°I want to help Naruto-kun as well!Б─² cried Hinata as she looked pleadingly at Shenlong. He smiled and then patted her head.

Б─°Fighting wonБ─≥t help the boy, his body will kill you before you can blink. The only thing you can do now is help that baka of a student, that baka of a keeper, and that baka of aБ─╕Sumikoa. That was better when I thought about it.Б─²

Б─°Down boy,Б─² came a shout from down the tunnel that sent Shenlong to his face. Б─°Come on Hinata and help us while Shenlong-teme fights Naruto.Б─²

Б─°Alright,Б─² said the girl as she ran down the tunnel after bowing to Shenlong.

Б─°I need to kill something,Б─² said the Kyuubi as it brought NarutoБ─≥s body up to his feet. Б─°Who am I going to kill first?Б─²

There was no longer a half of Naruto, his whole face and body looked just like a true form for a were-fox with razor sharp claws that could cut through kunai. Luckily, ShenlongБ─≥s favorite sword was just as sharp and it was easily moveable so that it moved faster than a normal sword. Shenlong didnБ─≥t know how strong the boy was now, but he was pretty sure he wasnБ─≥t holding back any power like last time.

Б─°Well I guess I shall be the one to die today,Б─² said Shenlong as he shifted into a sword thrusting stance. Б─°However, if to die with the knowledge that my death saved the lives of those I care about then I can have no regrets in how I meet my death.Б─²

Б─°ThatБ─≥s not your usual cocky attitude,Б─² remarked the Kyuubi as it took a step forward toward Shenlong, who was slowly turning to his true form.

Б─°The truth is, IБ─≥m always worried about the safety of my team and that cocky attitude I use is just a mask to hide my good side. I take every tough fight, not because I love to kill, I do, but I take those fights to minimize the chance that I might lose someone. Being a loner my whole life, IБ─≥ve taken a bit of liking into having people who will always be there for me.Б─²

Б─°YouБ─≥ve really gone soft on me,Б─² laughed the Kyuubi as he charged at Shenlong.

Shenlong caught the claws right when they intersected, but the Kyuubi then moved quickly around, swiping randomly as it encircled him. There was no way Shenlong could attack and so he just went on the defensive. NarutoБ─≥s punches were coming from every direction without break and all Shenlong could do was wait until the right moment. When he decided it was time, Shenlong grabbed hold of one of NarutoБ─≥s fists and flung him towards a wall, the surface exploding on impact. Naruto bounded back and punched Shenlong into a wall before unloading a barrage of punches on the wolf. Shenlong did an excellent job of blocking and returning the damage, but it didnБ─≥t help, for he was still beaten up pretty bad. Using a water style jutsu on his blood, he then used it to create a blood dragon missile that hit Naruto square in the chest and sent him flying. Shenlong stumbled towards his sword, pulling it out of the ground as he got ready to attack Naruto again.  
Б─°Now then I guess this parties getting crazy,Б─² said Shenlong, a bit dazed by the amount of damage heБ─≥d just done.

Б─°IБ─≥m gonna have a hell of a time with the ladies you brought here,Б─² said the Kyuubi with a toothy grin. Neko and Sumikoa ran like they were in a track race, the grand pruze apparently being their lives. They curved through the tunnels in a way that would make any pro racer envious. Each girl had ceased their screams, requiring their breath to kepp running. The zombie, however, was unfortunately fast. Maybe it was a track runner when it still had a body?

"Gah! That thing's gaining!!" Neko cried, eyes staring at the dead thing almost directly behind them, little tears forming at the corners of her eyes while running.(Neko: That is very annoying to feel and have to see through, especially in winter since it makes you slow down and you get caught after smacking a troublesome brat. No, I'm not referring to myself. P )

Sumikoa glanced behind her, gritting her teeth while gripping the lantern in her hand tightly. The glass case rocked back and forth above it, the fire inside waving wildly. If it hadn't had been for the fire-proof containter it was in, there might have been some problems.

"At this rate, it'll catch us in no time!! What to do, what to do!!" Neko yelled over the wind in her ears. The zombie groaned loud, its horrid voice bouncing off the walls. Neko squeeked, picking up her pace as well as Sumikoa.

"Let's stop and fight him! We'll tag-team him and take him down!" Sumikoa answered, looking to the side at Neko and nodding.

"WHAT?! No way! Stoping would be the end for both of us! Besides, two on one isn't fair!" Neko cried back in reply, staring at Sumikoa like she was crazy.

"Zombies aren't even IN the rulebook! That's fair enough! Now let's stop and fight!"

"No, stopping is stupid! It's suicide!!"

"Stop and fight! Come on! He's not that hard to beat!"

"NO stopping!"

"STOP!!!"

"NO STOP! NOOOO STOOOOP!!"

"NEKO!!"

"SUMIKOA!!"

"STOP, DAMNIT!"

"NO STOOOO-"

BLAM! Like two bowling balls raming a wall at terminal velocity(ciencia!! go new assistant teach!!), the girls slammed into one of the hugest boulders imaginable, oddly cracking it. They appeared glued on, until they fell off one after the other, landing on the ground with quiet thuds and loud headaches. All systems, lockdown, halt, no move...

"Guh...urgh, I think we shoulda shtopped.." Neko mumbled, blood dripping from her mouth. Her eyes went around in circles, whether they were doing it intentially or Neko just felt like doing it for the heck of it.

"You think?" Sumikoa replied, a long cut on her left cheek beginning to bleed. Thumps thrashed up behind them, no attempt in secrecey obvious. The ransid smell of the decaying flesh seemed like it could wrap around and choke somebody in no time flat. Crinkling of torn clothes showed how old the monster was, if it was not noticable just by glance.

Neko and Sumikoa looked up slowly, Neko gulping and Sumikoa twitching from the stench. Black holes met both of the young kunoichi's stares, even a quick little peek from a maggot in the left socket. The zombie reached out its literally bony hands, grasping for the girls.

Just before the fingers touched, the kunoichi were up and backing against the newly formed rock. Sumikoa drew her kunai, holding it out in front of her as she studied the zombie cautiously. Neko first initiative was jutsu, but fear kept her from doing so, a bad habit she thought she had gotten over a long time ago.

"Now what?!" Neko whispered frantically, afraid if the zombie heard her, it would attack. Sumikoa shook her head, gripping the kunai. The lantern, which had fallen right before the girls had hit the wall for no reason, lyed to Sumikoa's left, the fire burning brightly. Sumikoa thought baxk, remembering their run through the tunnels in accurate scenes. Her eyes narrowed, a sweat bead forming on the side of her forehead.

"Neko, try Katon no Jutsu. Be sure to hit him." Sumikoa mumbled. Neko's attention shot to her, both startled and curious. Sumikoa nodded as she noticed Neko's unsure glance. "I think I know how to beat this thing."

"O-okay.." Neko said. Shaking, she threw her hands together, forming signs as fast as she possibly could. Rat, Tiger, Dog, Ox, Hare, Tiger...(plese forgive me if this is wrong. I have no knowledge of the real katon no jutsu signs so I'm just going by what's on Sasuke's card. P) Neko drew back, holding up two fingers as she gathered as much breath as she could. Her lungs completely filled, she readied herself, aiming directly for the zombie, then sent out the fire.

"Katon no Jutsu!" She cried as fire roared from her mouth, illuminating the whole tunnel. Red walls glared so brightly it was difficult to see, but it didn't take sunglasses to see the zombie dodge so quickly and so easily it was thought impossible. It hopped on the wall, sticking to it with its own chakra. Neko released the jutsu, gawking at the zombie and its weird charka, the ugly brown that it was.

"Woah!" Neko blurted, breating heavily. Accidently startling it, the zombie launched from the wall, coming right for Neko and Sumikoa. Swiftly, Sumikoa grabbed the lantern, pointing it in the monster's direction. It stopped, screaming at the bright light on its skin. Smoke poofed from its arms and legs, the redness of the light too much for it. The zombie ran off out of the light, but not out of Neko and Sumikoa's sights, just raring to get a grip on them.

"Oh, so fire does it eh?" Neko said, smiling. Her hardest jutsu ever to learn, being that she was from the Village Hidden in The Mist, turned out to be her best defenser against her worst enemy.

Sumikoa nodded. "Now all we need to do is hit it." Sumikoa declared. She shifted the lantern so that it still pointed in the dead creature's direction. She thought for another second, then grinned as another idea came to her.

"Neko, when I say go, send one of your strongest Katon no Jutsus at that monster. Got it?" Sumikoa ordered, stabbing the ground with the pole. It stuck after the second try, but Sumikoa pushed it in deeper anyways. Croushing back, she herself began making handsigns and in a matter of moments, a deep mist blocked all eyes except for the user's in the area.

"Hidden Mist jutsu..." Neko heard Sumikoa mumble from nearby. Realizing the plan, Neko instantly started with the handsigns, gathering all her chakra up forth. She intook air, going slowly to wait on Sumikoa...

"GO!" came the cry and Neko didn't need to hear it twice. She threw out a powerful fireball, powerful enough to rip through the mist and hit the zombie square in the chest. Its eerie scream sent shivers down the kunoichi's back, but it didn't last long. As Sumikoa cleared the mist, all that was left of the zombie was a pile of bones.

Neko stared, a huge grin tugging at her lips. She cheered loudly, jumping up and down to show her happiness. Sumikoa laughed, glad the threat was over, and cheered alongside Neko.

"Sumikoa! Neko!" Came the voice familiar to the girls. Yuki, Shenlong's keeper. Neko turned to where the voice came from, finding herself looking straight at the boulder.

"We're alright!" Sumikoa called back, walking calmly to the boulder. Neko followed,placing both hands on the boulder and cocking her head inquiringly.

"Yuki!" Neko yelled through the rock. "Where's sensei? And Naruto and Hinata?!" Neko asked, worried about more zombie threats.

"Shenlong's fighting some zombie and something's just not right! I don't know where Naruto is but Hinata's right- OH! I GOT AN IDEA!" Yuki shouted suddenly, peircing Neko's ear, which she had against the wall as soon as Yuki mentioned "zombie". She leaned away painfully, rubbing her ear.

"You alright?" Sumikoa laughed at Neko's strange face, despite the circumstances.

"...It sounds...It sounds like Opera..."Neko replied, looking up at the ceiling like she was looking into her head.

"Hinata's going to use the byakugan to break the boulder! Stand away!" Yuki hollered. Sumikoa and Neko did as told, taking a good couple feet back. In seconds, Neko heard Hinata's quiet voice whisper a jutsu, then the boulder broke in little bits from the power of the Byakugan at good use. Standing in the smack middle of the path were Hinata and Yuki, one waving the other nodding.

"Y'all alright there?" Neko laughed, indicating the rocks all around the other two kunoichi. Yuki nodded, leading the way as all four headed off.

Yuki, Neko, Sumikoa, and Hinata rushed through each document, in the room they had recently discovered, and despaired at never finding the scroll until Neko just happened to kick a shelf, causing a pile of scrolls to fall on top of her. At the top of the pile was the very scroll they were looking for and the women had to stop an angry Neko from setting the whole pile on fire with a katon no jutsu. After finding the necessary jutsu they needed, the girls started running to where Shenlong was fighting Naruto.

Б─°I donБ─≥t like the looks of this,Б─² said Yuki as she stopped all of a sudden, eyes clouded in worry. Б─°I canБ─≥t hear any sound of them fighting.Б─²

They soon found out why as they walked in on a possessed Naruto sitting on a pile of bones with Shenlong hanging on the wall behind him, impaled on his own sword. They backed away a bit when Naruto got up from the pile, licking the blood off of his claws. All girls gasped, but none more so than Hinata, almost brought to tears at the sight before her.

"Naruto!!" Hinata yelled, clutching her hands. Her purple eyes wavered connecting directly with Naruto's fury-red.  
Б─°More victims for me, oh goody,Б─² exclaimed Naruto as he started rushing for them, paralyzing the girls with only a glare, but as if on cue, Shenlong took out the sword and held Naruto into place. Startled, if not for a mere second, Naruto roared, vicously attacking any part of Shenlong he could touch. Blood splurted out from all the wounds Shenlong was gaining.

Б─°Quick, use the jutsu!Б─² ordered Shenlong as he struggled to hold the enraged boy in his grip. Naruto growled and spat, fangs glittering dangerously in his mouth while other teeth bore Shenlong's blood. His skin began flaring up am orangish-red, signaling there was not much time left before the demon wreaked Hell again upon Konoha.

The women didnБ─≥t hesitate in their movement and as soon as Shenlong had said his word they had performed the hand signs that were required in the jutsu and Hinata, the one chosed for this jutsu, stepped forward. A clock stopped her, suddenly appearing overhead. It started to count down, not a doubt in the world for Naruto. In a rush of desperation, Hinata flew through different handsigns, hoping she would not miss one as she read the ones required on the scroll before her. 5... Rat, ox, hare, monkey, dog, hare, tiger, boar, ...4...rooster, tiger, dog, ox, hare, monkey, boar, dog, tiger,...3...dog, tiger, ox, hare, rooster, almost there! One more the scroll showed, but it was one that was not used anymore nowadays. The sign of the demon. How? Hinata recalled studing with her father one night, when he showed her old signs from the past.The sign of the demon was one of them, but how did it go?! ...2...too many handsigns popped up in her head, so she was forced to pick one and hope it worked. Running quicker than she had ever before, Hinata formed the last seal, slamming her palm roughly into Naruto's stomach...1...

The clock stopped. Everyone held their breath, all eyes on Naruto, if not voluntarily. He twitched and shook, but the fox chakra seemed to be withdrawing.

They could have used a binding jutsu to hold him there until the Halloween ended, but they decided that it was better to make a change in the seal. It was risky since one of them might have to sacrifice their life, but with the new seal, Naruto would be in control of the KyuubiБ─≥s chakra so that this could never happen again. Naruto was bathed in black light that remade him back into the boy he was, getting released from Shenlong's grasp. He fell slowly, thudding to the ground, unconscious but alright. As the kunoichi opened their eyes, they saw that they were not dead.

Б─°WeБ─≥re not dead, thank the kami weБ─≥re not dead!Б─² cried the women in joy. All was fine, it appeared, the only worry being the slash Naruto made on Hinata's shoulder. They ended their cries of joy as they saw Shenlong, who didnБ─≥t seem to be breathing. He himself had also fallen in the fray, the fray being when he released Naruto and the demon chakra had a slight surge.

Yuki rushed over, kneeling beside him wit her hand on is chest. Neko bounded over on all fours, halting right next to Yuki. Hesitantly, Neko placed her hands a few inches over Shenlong's body, a blue chakra swirling around them. She sweated, furrowing her brow. Yuki quietly did the same, both kunoichis now tryig to save his life before his spirit left.

* * *

Neko: Yeah, I didn't intend it to be this long, but oh well. lol thank you for reading!! )


	9. Ending!

锘 ---- D lol... Chapter: The Last, Dattebayo!!

Neko: Hello fellow readers, writers, narutards, etc.,etc. Yup, last Chapter. Now, on to the disclaimer.

DISCLAIMER PEOPLE!!!: Neither I, nor Shenlong, own Naruto. The OCs are owned by the following: Sumikoa-- Sumikoa, if you weren't sure, Shenlong7----Shenlong, again if you weren't sure, Kunoichi-Neko-- Neko and Vapor, and yeah... bad headache + Writing urge + one heck of a day Very..maybe odd.. chapter. Enjoy...or die...witch cackling

* * *

Naruto opened his eyes, taking in all that was around him with a quiet sigh. He gazed absentmindedly, his brain completely blank and unwilling. The ground upon which he layed was cold and soggy. His fingers and toes felt numb, the rest of his body unfealable for some reason. Despite that, he knew he was bleeding. He could smell the blood, the scent that had fallen so many times around him.

However, he could not see it.

"Hinata..." Naruto mumbled, the girl he called being the last thing he saw. He remembered that vivdly, as though it was a video playing before him. Again and again it replayed, showing himself, a claw on his hand, rearing back and striking the poor girl just as she delivered a blow to his stomach. Before, he knew nothing was going on, felt nothing at all, not until he heard the chants, the sound of kunoichi talking together. Or was it singing? He never paid attention, his mind filled with an unknown fury.

But now, lying here, he felt at peace. Nothing bothered him, nothing at all. Except, maybe, for the puzzling question in the back of his head, one that he had finally acknowledged after all this time of consciousness.

Why am I here?

Simple as that. Easy question, but why such a hard answer? His mind was still in refusal, but it wasn't something he partically didn't like. It was a relief to finally be relaxed, not worrying about the Halloween crap and his seal.

His seal. What had become of it? His brain kicked into gear, clearly curious (say that 5 times fast) and ready for the answer.

Naruto Uzumaki eased himself up off the floor, taking a split moment to gaze around. He was alone, not a soul at all. All his eyes saw were the dull steel walls, the watery floor that appeared to have been recently mopped, and the giant cage standing tall before him. In a matter of moments, Naruto's mind was fully back, and he realized where he was. The Nine-tailed fox, a.k.a. "Kyuubi",'s room, the dark and depressing room it was.

Red eyes slowly opened behind the bars, staring directly at Naruto, who returned the stare naturally. It was a moment that one would expect a wind to blow and tug at the young boy's hair. None came, unless the great sigh from the Kyuubi counted.

"What is it you want, boy?" The fox boomed, his normal demonic grin stretched across his face once more. Frighteningly sharp talons edged near the gate, anxious for the boy to come just a tiny bit in reach and snag him.

Naruto's dazed stare turned to a sharp glare, aimed directly into the mighty demon's eyes. "What the hell happened, fox?!" Naruto yelled, taking a step forward. The demon shushed, then began to laugh low.

"My, you must be quite ignorant not to realize your body was under complete possession..." It replied, fangs glittering in the dim, red aura surrounging its skinny orange body.

"You're the one who's ignorant! What's going on with everyone else?! What happened?!" Naruto snapped, his voice strong yet with a hint of worry. "Get me out of here, you stupid fox!!"

"Heheheh, I cannot get you out of your own body." Came its partially angered response.

"Then how-" Naruto started, but was instantly interrupted.

"Naruto-kun?!" Came a soft voice, no more than a whisper although it sounded like a yell from the volume. Naruto gawked around, searching for the voice's owner hopefully.

"Hinata?!" Naruto cried in return. The fox chuckled, creeping back from the gate.

"You know the way out." It said before it disappeared out of sight.

Naruto paused, looking down at the ground with the Kyuubi's voice ringing in his ears. You know the way out. The way out. Where was it? If I really knew it, wouldn't I be able to get out easily? Naruto thought in annoyance and frustration. He closed his eyes, turning his head to the ceiling. How?

It was like a wave had passed over him, darkness first, then the light shone it all away. When his eyes decided to open, purple pupils, a blush, and bluish hair met them. The girl was leant over, a look of pure worry on her face. Blood was along her stomach, a slash so to be called.

"Hinata.." The blond boy whispered, raising his hand to her cheek to make sure this was real and that he was definitely alive. As soon as his hand touched her cheek, her face flustered, her cheek turning hot. She didn't reply, but Sumikoa had to help her keep from fainting.

"Where...where.." Naruto grumbled, lowering his hand to the ground.

"Don't speak, Naruto. You're probably very weak right now. Just rest." Sumikoa said, sitting down next to Hinata. She glanced up, over at where Neko and Yuki sat beside Shenlong's body, an urge to call out to them being forced back when she saw Shenlong breath. The two kunoichi, however, didn't notice, but continued chatting about something.

"Guh...Hinata..." Naruto said, completely disobeying, bringing a sigh from Sumikoa. Hinata jerked her head up from where she had it angled at the ground, another red blush on her pale face.

"Y-Y-Yes, Naruto-K-kun?" She stuttered, pressing her fingers together shyly.

"Your wound..did..did I..?" Naruto said, gazing at the slash in regret, even if he wasn't sure he was responsible for it.

Hinata shook her head, smiling. "Naruto-kun, don't worry about it. Y-You're hurt yourself. Please, d-do as Sumikoa-chan said and p-please get some rest." Hinata said, gripping her hands together. Naruto remained still, finally nodding before closing his eyes. When she was sure he was unconscious, Hinata rubbed the wound painfully, flinching at her own touch.

"Hinata, you might want to get that checked out as soon as possible." Sumikoa said, standing up. Hinata nodded with a "Right" then stood up herself. Slowly, the two girls took Naruto under each arm, staggering at first. After they managed to balance his weight evenly, they moved over to where the other kunoichi sat.

"o-say, hould-say e-way urt-hay im-hay? r-ooi hould-soi e-woi et-loi im-hoi leep-soi?" Neko asked Yuki, who seemed to think it over.

"Et's-loi im-hoi leep-soi. Hen-the e-whe urt-he im-he." Yuki replied. Neko grinned, nodding. She looked up, as well as Yuki, both bursting into laughter at the confused girls' faces.

"It's a code we use for fun. We got it from a book." Yuki explained. Quietly, she walked over to Shenlong's other side, squatting down beside him once more.

"So, how are we going to move someone asleep that's taller than you?" Yuki asked no one in particular. Neko shrugged as an answer, digging her fingers into the ground impatiently. It was Halloween, a party was on that night if she remembered correctly, and the zombie factor had already made her scream her throat out.

"Try doing like us and putting one arm over both of your shoulders." Sumikoa said, annoyed a bit, having had a fright as well. Neko looked up, sighing, scooting over to the mn's side. Yuki slid his right arm over her shoudlers, grunting as she tried to lift him.

"Easy for you to say, you only got a small fox boy. We got a wolfman...Neko!" Yuki snapped, glaring at Neko. Neko sat on her toes, gazing with an odd expression at the dirt. She looked up when Yuki called her, but not too quickly.

"Hm?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.

Yuki sighed, shaking her head. "Help me." She ordered.

Neko nodded, getting Shenlong's left arm and placing it over her shoulders. She lifted without any emotion, lost deep in thought. With both Kunoichi on either side, they were able to carry the tall man, who still appeared knocked out. Suddenly, Shenlong opened his eyes, gripping the ninjas' shoulders so quickly it startled them unsurprisingly. Neko kept quiet, jerking from under his arm and running up the wall on all fours. Yuki flinched away,too, but stayed and proceeded to chew Shenlong out instead of running.

"Hey, guys?" Neko said on the ceiling, looking down at them."I've been thinking.."

"We've noticed.." Said one of the kunoichis, but Neko didn't hear. She rubbed her chin, gazing at the other wall silently.

"How are we going to get out"

An hour had passed, or so it seemed to the ninjas as they walked continuously through various tunnels. Shenlong, second from first, constantly adjusted the dozing Naruto on his back to keep the slob from dribbling down his back, once leaning forward as a joke and leaning Naruto towards Yuki. Instead, it missed, landing right on Shenlong's foot, further irritating him. He muttered under his breath, having been forced to carry Naruto after his prank so he could not let the boy down.

At last, the ninja saw a light, not just any light like the spooky light that followed them around for a good while before dispersing for good. It was outside light, how they knew was unknown but the relief and joy they felt was already predicted.

Neko sprinted into a run, hyper at the thought of finally getting some sleep. Her footseps echoed loudly, a little too loudly. Before anybody knew anything, the ceiling began to crumble. Rocks the size of miniature mountains dislodged themselves, slamming to the dirt with enough force to shake the earth.

On instinct, everyone froze, too shocked and confused to even flinch. However, when the big rocks started to take aim seriously, the ninja were flying for the exit. Shenlong, with a still knocked out Naruto, dodged the rocks as they fell like rain, but occasionally suffered a small scratch from the broken bits of peices from the rocks shooting out everywhere. Hinata followed behind him, using a jutsu whenever a rock came close to hitting Naruto that Shenlong could not turn the boy in time to dodge from. Neko, Sumikoa, and Yuki kept up gracefully, also getting pelted by the little bits rather than the large rocks.

"Hurry up, it's starting to block the exit!" Shenlong yelled out behind him, almost awaiting the smart reply one of them would throw at him in a moment or two. But none came. Either they didn't hear, or they didn't care. They were running for their very lives.

Shenlong made it out first, of course, followed immediately by Hinata. It took a few minutes, but the rest of the kunoichis escaped in a matter of seconds, too. With a mighty roar, the catacombs' entrance started to crumble. It leaned, grabbing the shinobis' attention to their fullest. The rocks still fell inside, from what could be heard over the roar. The ground split just then, all the remaining peices of the catacomb entrance slipping into it.

It was gone. Poof. Zap. Bye-bye. Asta la vista, baby.(sorry if misspelled)

The ninja stared in amazement. They had made it, along with konoha and the boy bearing the powerfulest demon of all the ninja worlds. When all the chaos of the destroyed seal awoke, when Vapor came by for some reason, and when the zombies attacked, they survived!

Hinata sighed, bowing her head tiredly. Her bangs moved off her head as she did so, like curtains sheilding the jewel eyes she was born with. Pleased and joyous was what she experienced at the moment, but in a quiet way. Neko, rocking back and forth on her heels, hummed a soft tune to no one in particular. She casted a glance over at Yuki and Shenlong, the couple standing together and admiring something Neko didn't quite see, then over to Sumikoa, the girl's eyes set for the nature around.

Naruto, awakening from a wonderful dream of a certain girl he thought he would never dream about, lifted his head up high, until he could easily see the fluffy white clouds kissing the baby blue sky. He smiled up at the beautiful sight he had been givien another chance to see again, the delicate wind blowing through his ruffled hair.

* * *

Neko: Mendoske...I had planned for something other than this ending, but, oh well. Can't pull it off anyway lol. Welp, one of my fanfics has finally reached an ending, praise the Lord. Which means, I can go back to slacking off om my others again, Hoorah! P So, I hoped you enjoyed and I'm glad you read it, thank you, and any complaints you have please feel free to post, send, carol, dance, text, whatever.  
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! SAYO!


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